MY  LIFE 


WITH 


RICHARD 
C. 
MORSi; 


m 


Mif'ttuuiiytOii'i'ii'-'i'i! 


10  .  sr,  IS 


^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^ 


Presented   by'KlCh c\rd  C.  MoVSe 
Division  ..M.L...UJ  '^  ' 


Sec/ion 


MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/mylifewithyoungmOOmors 


RICHARD     C.MORSE 


-0is:i  OF  mcef^ 


OCT  4   1918 

MY   LIFE       ^mn^^ 


WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Fifty  Years  in  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association 


RICHARD  G.  MORSE 

Consulting  General  Secretary  of  the  International  Committee 
oj  Young  Mens  Christian  Associations 


ASSOCIATION    PRESS 

New   York:    124   East  28th    Street 
1918 


Copyright,  1918,  by  The  International  Committee 
OF  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 


To 
MY  WIFE 

In  Acknowledgment  of 

Her  Invaluable  Sympathy  and  Cooperation, 

THIS  Volume  is  Gratefully  Dedicated. 


FOREWORD 

This  work  is  the  autobiography  of  the  greatest  leader  in 
the  life  of  the  American  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
greatest  in  that  true  sense  in  which  Christ  defined  greatness — 
when  He  said  that  he  who  would  be  greatest  among  you  shall 
be  the  servant  of  all.  What  leader  has  for  so  many  years 
served  so  many  men  of  so  many  lands? 

Here  we  also  have  given  in  epitome  all  that  is  most  signifi- 
cant in  the  history  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 
What  movement  has  been  so  fortunate  as  to  have  as  its  his- 
torian one  whose  life  has  spanned  the  more  than  three  score 
years  and  ten  of  its  history,  and  who  has  himself  been  an  influ- 
ential factor  in  nearly  every  page  of  the  history  which  he  has 
narrated  with  such  fidelity  and  judicial  quality? 

Furthermore,  these  pages  afford  an  interesting  background 
of  the  religious  life  of  the  last  two  generations.  This  period 
has  been  characterized  among  other  things  by  the  wonderful 
development  and  organization  of  the  lay  forces  of  the  Church, 
by  the  larger  and  more  scientific  application  of  the  social 
principles  of  Jesus  Christ  to  the  life,  the  work  and  the  relation- 
ships of  men,  by  the  drawing  together  in  closer  fellowship 
and  cooperation  of  the  various  Christian  communions,  and  by 
the  world-wide  expansion  of  the  Christian  religion.  The  author 
of  this  book  has  helped  to  guide  the  Association  with  such 
prophetic  spirit  and  wisdom  that  it  has  had  a  large  part  in 
facilitating  the  achievement  of  these  notable  results. 

Great  and  numerous  in  other  directions  as  have  been  the 
services  of  Richard  C.  Morse  to  the  nations  and  the  churches, 
his  distinctive  mission  has  been  that  of  the  leadership  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  for  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury. What  does  this  organization  not  owe  to  the  fact  that 
it  has  had  the  undivided  and  unwearied  attention  and  energies 
of  a  man  of  such  distinguished  heredity,  of  one  who  has  had 
the  advantages  of  the  finest  education  and  culture  of  his 
time,  of  one  possessing  such  personal  charm  and  rare  capacity 
for  friendship,  of  one  whose  life  abounds  with  unselfishness 

vii 


viii  FOREWORD 

and  who  has  shown  a  genius  for  self-effacement  and  for  dis- 
covering and  developing  men  and  enlarging  their  opportunity ! 
He  has  ever  been  responsive  to  new  visions  and  widening  plans. 
He  has  preserved  to  the  present  day  the  spirit  of  the  young 
man.  He  is  as  keenly  alert  and  as  enthusiastic  at  a  football 
game  as  any  undergraduate.  He  exemplifies  the  aphorism 
that  a  great  teacher  must  never  cease  to  be  a  learner.  Of 
him  could  it  be  said  with  aptness,  in  the  language  of  the 
Hebrew  writer,  "He  shall  be  full  of  sap,  he  shall  bring  forth 
fruit  in  old  age."  He  had  no  predecessor  in  the  Movement 
which  he  so  served  and  honored ;  and,  in  a  very  real  sense,  he 
can  have  no  successor.  John  R.  Mott. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Foreword,  John  R.  Mott vii 

Preface xiii 

I.  Heredity 1 

Jedediah  Morse,  1761-1826 

II.  Childhood  and  School  Life 18 

Childhood,  1841-1853— School  Life,  1853-1855— Andovcr, 
1855-1858 

III.  College  Life  at  Yale,  1858-1862 31 

Beginning  of  the  Civil  War — Athletic  and  Other  Interests — 
Members  of  the  Class  of  1862 

IV.  A  Period  of  Vocational  Preparation 47 

A  Study  in  Biography-;-An  Experience  as  a  Teacher — Theo- 
logical Studies — A  Beginning  in  Journalism 

V.  Beginning    of    Connection    with    the    Young 
Men's  Christian  Association 56 

Continued  Relations  with  The  New  York  Observer — Period  of 
Editorship  of  the  Association  Monthly,  Dec.  1,  1869-Dec.  1, 
1871. 

VI.  On  the  Path  to  the  General  Secretaryship  ...     85 

First  Tour  as  a  Visiting  Secretary,  Dec,  1871-May,  1872— 
The  Lowell  Convention — Tour  in  Europe — World's  Confer- 
ence, 1872 — Consideration  and  Acceptance  of  General  Secre- 
taryship 

VII.  The  Beginning  of  the  General  Secretaryship  .  .    109 

First  Year  as  General  Secretary,  1872-73 — Second  Year  as 
General  Secretary,  1873-74 

VIII.  Conferences  and  Conventions  Near  and  Far.  .   137 

Third  Year  as  General  Secretary,  1874-75 — Fourth  Year  as 
General  Secretary,  1875-76 

IX.  Five  Years  of  Varied  Development 161 

Fifth  and  Sixth  Years  of  the  General  Secretaryship,  1876-78 
— Seventh  and  Eighth  Years  of  the  General  Secretaryship, 
1878-80— Ninth  Year  of  the  General  Secretaryship,  1880-81 

X.  Entering  the  Second  Decade 186 

Tenth  and  Eleventh  Years  of  the  General  Secretaryship, 
1881-83 — The  Annual  Meeting  of  the  International  Com- 
mittee and  Its  Secretaries — Marriage — Conventions  of  1885 
and  1887 — Growth  of  Financial  Support  of  the  Committee's 
Work 

ix 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XL  Features  of  Growth  and  Cooperation 211 

Growing  Allegiance  to  the  Churches — Convention  Topics 
and  Discussions  of  the  Period  1871-1900 — World's  Confer- 
ences of  1881  and  1884 — The  Topic  Party — Connection 
with  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  1879-1883 

XII.  World's  Committee  and  Conferences 233 

World's  Committee  Meeting  of  1886 — World's  Conference  of 
1888  at  Stockholm — The  Jubilee  World's  Conference  at 
London,  1894 

XIII.  Local  Association  Work 251 

Connection  with  New  York  City  Association — Connection 
with  Local  Work  in  Other  Cities — Secretarial  Training — 
Specialization  on  the  Four  Features  of  the  Fourfold  Work 

XIV.  The  Problem  of  the  Chairmanship 274 

Resignation  of  Cephas  Brainerd  and  the  Election  of  His  Suc- 
cessor— A  Trip  to  Palestine  and  the  Near  East — A  Fitting 
Tribute  to  the  Retiring  Chairman — Term  of  Elbert  B.  Monroe 
as  Chairman,  1892-94 — The  Problem  of  the  Chairmanship 
Solved — A  Surprising  Episode 


XV.  Two  Important  Conversations 

With  John  R.  Mott— With  Robert  R.  McBurney 

XVI.  The  Eventful  Year  of  1898 


300 


309 


Army  and  Navy  Work — Two  World  Conferences  in  Europe 
— The  General  Secretary's  Private  Office  and  Home,  1884- 
1898 — McBurney's  Sickness  and  Death — The  Tower  Room 

XVII.  Student  Work — Local  and  Intercollegiate.  . . .  329 

Interest  in  Student  Work  at  Yale — Relation  to  Intercol- 
legiate Work — Beginnings  of  the  Summer  Conferences 

XVIII.  The  Outreach  to  Other  Lands 362 

The  Student  Volunteer  Movement — Official  Establishment, 
Definition,  and  Early  Progress  of  Foreign  Association  Work 
— The  World's  Student  Christian  Federation — A  World 
Power 

XIX.  Connection  with  Railroad  and  Other  Forms 

OF  Association  Work 390 

The  Railroad  Work,  Local  and  International — The  Indus- 
trial Department — Work  among  Colored  Young  Men — 
North  American  Indian  Young  Men — Boys'  Work — County 
and  Rural  Work — Community  Association  Work — The 
Women's  Auxiliary 

XX.  An  Era  of  Remarkable  Progress 418 

A  Permanent  Fund  for  the  International  Committer — First 
Tour  around  the  World,  December,  1902-June,  1903 — 
Progress  of  Local  and  International  Work— Two  Associate 
General  Secretaries — Progress  of  the  Foreign  Work — North 
American  Jubilee  of  1901  at  Montreal  and  Boston 


CONTENTS  xi 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXI.  Continued  Twentieth  Century  Progress 441 

A  Decade  of  Remarkable  Progress — North  American  Jubilee 
of  1904  at  Buffalo — International  Committee's  Building — 
International  Conventions  of  1907,  1910,  and  1913 — Fortieth 
Year  Anniversary 

XXII.  A  Second  World  Journey 464 

New  York  to  China — In  Japan  a  Second  Time — China 
Centenary  Conference — Westward  from  Shanghai  to  London 
— A  Summary  Review 

XXIII.  Summer  Schools  and  Periodicals 483 

The  Summer  Conferences  and  Schools — Periodicals  of  the 
North  American  Associations 

XXIV.  National  and  International  Relationships  ....  495 
The  Forming  of  a  Canadian  National  Organization — World 
Conferences  and  Conventions 

XXV.  First  Period  of  Chairman  Marling's  Adminis- 
tration, 1911-1915 506 

Changes  Following  the  Withdrawal  of  C.  J.  Hicks — The 
Macfarland  Commission — The  Cincinnati  Convention — The 
Fry  Commission — ^John  R.  Mott  Becomes  General  Secretary 


PREFACE 

Very  frequently,  for  more  than  twenty  years,  at  the  close 
of  some  private  interview  or  after  giving  an  address,  I  have 
been  approached  by  younger  Association  friends — laymen  and 
Secretaries — with  the  following  statement,  more  or  less  ur- 
gently expressed:  "What  you  have  said  to  us  in  the  way  of 
reminiscence  ought  to  be  preserved  in  more  permanent  form. 
You  are  the  only  source  from  which  now  we  younger  men  can 
secure  the  important  facts  you  have  recounted."  Finally,  some 
five  years  ago,  the  International  Committee  asked  me  to  set 
apart  time  to  write  a  book  of  reminiscences  concerning  my 
connection  with  the  work  and  the  workers  of  the  Associations. 
While  I  continued  in  the  office  of  International  General  Secre- 
tary, until  August,  1915,  time  and  opportunity  were  more 
limited  than  they  have  been  since  that  date.  It  was,  however, 
chiefly  owing  to  the  sympathy  and  generous  urgent  coopera- 
tion of  Mrs.  Morse  that  I  was  able  to  undertake,  and  before 
her  recent  death  virtually  to  complete,  the  present  volume. 
Labor  upon  it  since  that  sorrowful  event  has  been  pleasantly 
associated  with  the  memory  of  her  sympathy  and  the  growing 
interest  she  manifested  in  our  undertaking.  At  first  the  narra- 
tive was  begun  at  the  period  when,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six, 
I  became  connected  with  the  Association.  Soon,  however,  I 
was  urgently  asked  to  give  some  account  of  myself  before  as 
well  as  during  contact  with  the  life  of  this  Association  move- 
ment. Compliance  with  this  request  has  increased  the  size 
of  the  volume.  By  many  readers  this  will  be  regretted,  but 
care  has  been  taken  to  point  out  in  a  somewhat  full  index 
where  every  topic  or  person  is  mentioned.  Thus  an  easily 
followed  clue  is  given  to  any  reader  seeking  what  the  volume 
contains  of  the  information  that  may  be  desired. 

For  the  title  of  the  book  and  for  what  is  excellent  in  its 
manufacture  and  presentation  to  the  community  of  readers, 
they  are  with  me  indebted  to  my  friend  and  fellow-secretary, 
Frederick  M.  Harris,  of  Association  Press,  and  to  Mrs.  Fred 


xiv  PREFACE 

M.  Gilbert,  also  of  Association  Press,  who  as  critic  and  more 
than  proof  reader  has  rendered  important  service  to  both 
author  and  reader.  To  Dr.  John  E.  Mott,  Charles  K.  Ober, 
and  other  associates  I  am  indebted  for  valuable  counsel  and 
cooperation,  and  can  only  hope  that  what  I  have  attempted  in 
this  narrative  in  response  to  their  encouragement  may  meet 
their  expectations  more  satisfactorily  than  the  author  is  con- 
scious of  accomplishing  his  own  purpose  in  the  story  he  has 
attempted  to  tell. 


CHAPTER  I 
HEREDITY 

The  name  of  Morse  is  readily  traced  to  the  time  of  Edward 
III  of  England.  It  is  variously  written  Mors,  Moss,  Morss 
and  Morse.  During  the  last  five  hundred  years  the  family 
coat-of-arms  has  borne  the  motto,  In  Deo,  non  armis,  fido:  "In 
God,  not  arms,  I  trust." 

Anthony  Morse  was  born  at  Marlborough,  Wiltshire,  Eng- 
land, May  9,  1606,  came  to  New  England  in  1635,  and  settled 
in  Newbury,  Massachusetts,  about  half  a  mile  south  of  the 
most  ancient  cemetery  in  the  old  town.  The  house  in  which 
he  dwelt  was  on  a  slight  eminence  in  a  field  known  for  more 
than  two  centuries  as  "the  Morse  field."  He  was  a  man  of 
courage,  enterprise,  and  integrity  of  character.  His  son, 
Anthony,  succeeded  to  the  homestead,  and  died  February  25, 
1677  or  '78. 

Peter  Morse,  son  of  the  second  Anthony,  removed  about  1698 
to  New  Roxbur}',  then  located  within  Massachusetts,  but  later 
known  as  Woodstock,  Connecticut.  He  died  there  November 
2,  1721. 

John,  the  oldest  son  of  Peter,  resided  in  the  same  place  and 
was  married  to  Sarah  Peak,  who  lived  within  a  month  of  a 
hundred  years.  At  the  time  of  her  death  her  descendants  of 
three  generations  already  numbered  three  hundred  and  five. 
"Their  tenth  and  last  child  was  Jonathan,  who — it  is  not 
strange  to  say — died  at  the  age  of  three  years  and  four  months, 
having  read  the  Bible  through  twice,  committed  many  passages 
to  memory,  and  conducted  family  worship,  for  which  he  must 
have  been  eminently  qualified !"  According  to  a  table  of 
longevity  in  his  family,  compiled  by  one  of  my  uncles  at  the 
age  of  eighty-one,  twelve  of  his  immediate  ancestors  to  the 
fourth  generation  attained  advanced  age,  the  oldest  dying  at 
ninety-nine  and  the  youngest  at  eighty-one. 

Jedediah  was  the  oldest  son  of  John  and  Sarah  Morse.    He 

1 


2  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

was  born  July  8,  172G,  in  New  Roxbury.  In  the  year  1749 
the  town  passed  from  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  to  that 
of  Connecticut,  and  received  its  present  name  of  Woodstock. 
Here  Jedediah  Morse,  with  seventy-three  others,  took  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  Connecticut  at  the  first  freeman's  meeting. 
He  was  reputed  to  be  physically  the  strongest  man  in  Wind- 
ham County.  An  upright  and  able  magistrate,  for  eighteen 
years  he  was  one  of  the  selectmen  of  the  town,  twenty-seven 
years  town  clerk  and  treasurer,  fifteen  years  a  member  of  the 
Colonial  and  State  Legislature  and  an  honored  and  useful 
member  and  the  oflficer  of  the  Church.  He  died  December  29, 
1819,  at  the  age  of  ninety-four.  It  was  said  of  him  that  "Dea- 
con Morse  during  his  lifetime  held  all  the  offices  in  the  Church 
and  State  which  the  town  had  to  bestow !" 

My  father  when  a  boy  visited  this  grandfather  in  his  old  age, 
at  the  homestead  in  Woodstock,  early  in  the  first  decade  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  One  incident  of  the  visit  so  deeply 
impressed  the  boy  that  in  after  life  he  often  referred  to  it. 
One  day  two  farmers  in  their  contention  came  to  Deacon  Morse 
as  Justice  of  the  Peace.  He  led  them  into  the  sitting  room, 
opened  the  .family  Bible,  and  judged  the  case  by  reference  to 
the  Mosaic  law  as  given  in  the  Pentateuch. 

Jedediah  Morse,  1761-1826 

Jedediah  Morse,  D.D.,  my  grandfather,  was  the  eighth  child 
of  Jedediah  Morse  and  was  born  in  Woodstock,  August  23, 
1761.  He  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  the  class  of  1783,  where 
he  was  followed  by  his  three  sons,  five  grandsons,  ten  great 
grandsons,  and  one  great  great  grandson,  who,  as  the  first  one 
of  the  fourth  generation,  graduated  in  the  class  of  1913. 

The  college  boy's  carefully  kept  account  book  (1779-1783) 
survived  him  and  testifies  that  exclusive  of  clothing  and  books 
his  expenses  for  the  four  years  amounted  to  less  than  five 
hundred  dollars.  In  the  many  allusions  to  my  grandfather 
which  I  have  read,  emphasis  is  always  laid  upon  his  gentle- 
manly bearing  and  demeanor.  Professor  Benjamin  Silliman 
the  elder  says  of  him :  "He  was  a  dignified  and  jiolished  old- 
school  gentleman  and  a  gentleman  everywhere."  The  daughter 
of  one  of  his  clerical  friends,  Miss  Lucy  Osgood,  in  her  old 
age  writes  of  him :  "My  remembrance  of  him  goes  back  to  my 


HEREDITY  3 

earliest  years.  He  was  one  whom,  even  when  a  child,  I  always 
loved  to  see.  I  look  back  upon  him  as  a  perfect  gentleman  of 
peculiarly  attractive  manners,  which  were  greatly  aided  by 
a  low  sweet  voice,  yet  of  great  compass  and  whenever  he  sang 
capable  of  filling  the  largest  churches  with  its  melody.  His  tall, 
slender  form,  extremely  neat  dress,  mild  manners,  and  persua- 
sive tones,  aided  by  the  charm  of  perfect  good  breeding  which 
inspires  respect  for  the  true  gentleman,  made  him  in  all  places 
a  most  acceptable  guest,  while  his  own  house  was  always 
celebrated  as  the  very  home  of  hospitality." 

These  impressions  lend  interest  to  the  fact  recorded  by  one 
of  his  sons  that  among  the  books  purchased  by  him  while 
in  college,  the  one  volume  which  cost  him  most — more  than  his 
Latin  or  Greek  lexicon  or  Horace  Delphini — was  a  copy  of 
Lord  Chesterfield's  letters  on  politeness,  price  one  pound  sterl- 
ing, five  shillings  and  sixpence — a  singular  purchase  by  a  boy 
from  the  farm.  From  the  study  of  this  book,  with  all  its 
faults,  he  derived  great  benefit.  Many  years  later,  a  Boston 
publisher  at  his  suggestion  published  an  abridged  edition.  The 
task  of  revision  fell  to  the  proposer  of  the  project  and  the 
voluine  was  amusingly  advertised :  "Chesterfield  on  Politeness, 
Improved  by  Dr.  Morse."  Almost  a  half  century  afterward, 
an  eminent  minister  in  New  York  City,  Dr.  James  W.  Alexan- 
der, told  my  father  that  the  perusal  of  this  improved  edition 
had  been  of  much  service  to  him  and  he  suggested  a  republica- 
tion of  it. 

While  studying  for  the  ministry  (1783-5)  he  also  engaged 
in  teaching  in  New  Haven,  and,  in  the  absence  of  any  text 
book  on  American  geography,  prepared  and  published  in  1783 
in  that  city  a  duodecimo  volume  of  two  hundred  and  fourteen 
pages  on  the  subject.  This  was  followed  later  by  much  larger 
volumes  of  geography,  which  gave  such  new  and  abundant 
information  about  his  country,  that  their  author  was  given 
the  title  of  ''The  Father  of  American  Geography."  The  elder 
Professor  Silliman — of  the  class  of  179G,  tutor  and  then  pro- 
fessor at  Yale  from  1799  to  1853 — writes  of  Morse's  Geogra- 
phy: "It  was  a  classic.  I  recited  it  as  a  pupil,  and  in  after 
years  taught  it  as  a  tutor.  It  was  esteemed  very  valuable." 
In  Europe  it  gave  wide  repute  to  its  author.  The  earlier 
editions  were  reprinted  in  London  and  on  the  continent  were 


4  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

translated  and  circulated.  They  promoted  a  knowledge  con- 
cerning America  which,  in  turn,  stimulated  valuable  emigra- 
tion to  the  new  republic.  Its  circulation  brought  to  its  author 
a  European  correspondence  of  unusual  quality  and  dimen- 
sions. 

It  was  an  octavo  volume  of  543  pages,  seven  eighths  of  which 
was  devoted  to  the  United  States.  This  large  volume  was 
prepared  by  its  youthful  author  during  what  is  now  called 
"the  critical  period  of  American  History" — 1783-89 — when  the 
thirteen  feeble  states  were  slowly  and  painfully  but  wisely 
coming  to  the  conclusion  to  form  a  federal  union.  A  providen- 
tial call  to  a  brief  pulpit  supply  in  Georgia  gave  him  the  oppor- 
tunity— very  rare  at  that  time  for  one  in  his  circumstances — 
of  slow  travel  through  most  of  these  thirteen  states.  At  Mt. 
Vernon,  his  errand  enlisted  the  powerful  sympathy  of  George 
Washington,  soon  to  be  chosen  unanimously  as  first  President 
of  the  new  Republic.  From  him  the  young  man  received  a 
valued  copy  of  "the  most  accurate  map  of  the  United  States 
which  had  yet  been  made"  and  other  welcome  tokens  of  appre- 
ciation of  the  work  he  was  undertaking.  He  also  enlisted  or 
received  volunteered  cooperation  from  David  Ramsay,  the 
historian,  Governor  Livingston  of  New  Jersey,  Postmaster 
General  Hazard,  Geographer  General  Hutchins  and  other  able 
helpers.  Among  these  in  connection  with  his  copyright  and 
as  his  attorney  was  James  Kent — afterward  Chancellor  of 
New  York.  Alexander  Hamilton  also  generously  volunteered 
his  cooperation  as  a  source  of  "real  pleasure"  to  himself! 

After  the  publication  of  this  volume,  which  gave  him  na- 
tional repute  and  wide  consideration  abroad,  he  began  a  pas- 
torate of  thirty  years,  in  charge  of  the  First  Church  and 
Parish,  of  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  on  April  30,  1789,  the 
day  on  which  Washington  was  inaugurated  at  New  York  as 
first  President  of  the  United  States.  His  pastorate  covered 
a  period  of  serious  theological  controversy  issuing  in  a  Uni- 
tarian control  of  Harvard  College  and  of  most  of  the  churches 
of  Boston.  As  a  Trinitarian  belonging  to  the  conservative 
school  of  "moderate  Calvinists"  so-called,  he  earnestly,  with 
all  the  energy  of  his  faith  and  faculties,  opposed  this  change. 
He  was  the  leader  of  the  minority  opposition  in  the  Board  of 
Overseers  of  Harvard  College,  being  a  member  of  that  body 


HEREDITY  6 

ex  officio,  as  pastor  of  the  First  Church  of  Charlestown.  In 
the  heat  of  this  controversy  he  imblished  "The  True  Reasons" 
why  this  opposition  had  been  made.  Of  this  pamphlet  he 
testified  ten  years  later :  "It  has  been  considered,  by  one  class 
of  people,  'my  unpardonable  offense,'  and  by  another  as,  'the 
best  thing  I  ever  did.'  One  of  the  former  party  said  at  its 
publication,  it  was  so  bad  a  thing  that  it  more  than  counter- 
balanced all  the  good  I  had  done  and  should  do ;  and  one  of 
the  other  party  said,  if  I  had  never  done  any  good  before,  nor 
should  do  any  afterward,  that  single  deed  would  produce 
effects  of  sufficient  utility  to  mankind  to  be  worth  living  for." 

But  while  he  was  a  conservative,  he  was  not  an  extremist. 
As  a  wise  leader  he  sought  to  unite  whatever  differing  elements 
existed  in  his  own  conservative  brotherhood.  With  Dr.  Elipha- 
let  Pearson,  who  had  withdrawn  from  his  professorship  at 
Harvard,  and  with  one  group  of  friends  of  a  projected  new 
school  at  Andover,  and  with  another  group  having  in  mind  a 
school  at  Newbury,  he  succeeded  in  uniting  friends  of  somewhat 
differing  views,  but  equally  evangelical  and  Trinitarian,  in  the 
establishment  of  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  to  the  in- 
auguration of  which  his  sympathetic  and  life-long  friend,  Presi- 
dent Timothy  Dwight,  of  Yale  College,  came  to  preach  the 
sermon. 

He  was  equally  influential  in  bringing  together  his  fellow 
Congregational  clergymen  of  conservative  views,  in  the  Gen- 
eral Association  of  Massachusetts.  He  was  a  leader  in  the 
group  of  clergj'  and  laity  who  organized  Park  Street  Church 
in  Boston,  as  a  conservative  stronghold.  In  the  same  interest 
he  conceived,  published,  and  for  ten  years  edited  The  Panoplist 
as  a  periodical  devoted  to  keeping  together  and  promoting  the 
fellowship  of  the  evangelical  churches.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Jeremiah  Evarts,  who  still  further  extended  its  influence  and 
usefulness.  Later,  in  1816,  he  enlisted  his  son,  Sidney  Edwards 
Morse,  as  editor  of  the  first  of  the  weekly  religious  papers. 
The  Boston  Recorder,  continued  to  the  present  time  under  the 
name  of  The  Congregationalist,  but  whose  continuance  during 
its  first  experimental  year  was  wholly  due  to  the  energy  and 
practical  support  of  the  editor's  father. 

These  editorial  and  other  publications  promoted  a  corre- 
spondence with   Wilberforce,   Zachary   Macaulay — the  father 


6  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

of  Lord  Macaulay — George  Burder,  founder  in  England  of  the 
Keligious  Tract  Society,  and  with  other  evangelical  leaders  in 
Great  Britain,  who  were  in  strong  sympathy  with  his  con- 
servative and  progressive  attitude  and  his  strenuous  activity. 
His  correspondence  and  personal  sympathies  and  friendships 
also  brought  him  into  fellowship  with  brother  clergymen  of 
other  churches — Drs.  John  Rodgers,  of  New  York,  John 
Komeyn,  of  Albany,  Ashbel  Green,  of  Princeton,  John  Wither- 
spoon.  President  of  Princeton  College,  and  others. 

Of  Dr.  Witherspoon  he  writes  the  following  interesting  inci- 
dent: ''With  that  great  and  good  man  I  was  well  acquainted. 
He  paid  us  his  last  visit  when  my  eldest  son  was  an  infant  a 
few  days  old.^  The  visit  will  never  be  forgotten  by  us,  for 
deeply  affected  in  this  interview  with  the  mother — who  was  the 
granddaughter  of  Dr.  Samuel  Finley,  his  revered  predecessor 
in  office  at  Princeton,  whose  name  had  been  given  to  the  child — 
he  took  her  infant  son  into  his  arms  and,  after  the  manner  of 
the  ancient  patriarchs,  with  great  solemnity  gave  him  his 
blessing." 

In  benevolent  and  Christian  progressive  endeavors,  on  both 
the  home  and  foreign  field.  Dr.  Morse  was  ceaselessly  active. 
The  first  Foreign  Missionary  Society  founded  in  the  United 
States — The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Foreign 
Missions — has  been  called  "one  of  the  fruits  of  Andover  Theo- 
logical Seminary,"  only  because  it  was  formed  in  response  to 
a  memorial  addressed  to  the  General  Association  of  Massa- 
chusetts by  the  four  students  of  that  seminary,  who  have  first 
claim  as  originators  and  founders  of  the  movement,  and  who 
desired  to  spend  their  lives  in  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the 
heathen.  Of  the  eight  members  of  the  Board,  Dr.  Morse  was 
one  of  the  four  from  Massachusetts.  He  was  one  of  the  two 
petitioners  to  whom  the  legislature  of  that  state  granted  the 
act  of  incorporation.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Prudential  Com- 
mittee from  181.5-21. 

His  eldest  son.  Professor  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  the  inventor, 
writes  of  him : 

"The  most  prominent  trait  of  my  father's  character,  in- 
delibly inscribed  on  my  memory,  is  his  charity — charity  in  the 

'  Samuel  Finley  Breese  Morse,  afterward  known   as  the  inventor  of  the  electro-magnetic 
telegraph. 


HEREDITY  7 

New  Testament  seuse — the  great  master  principle  of  Chris- 
tianity. As  fruit  and  evidence  of  this  was  his  untiring  inven- 
tion of  enlarged  plans  for  benefiting  his  fellowmen.  .This  was 
shown  in  his  nursing  of  the  infant  Tract  Society,  when  the 
first  tract  depository  in  the  country  was  a  snuill  room  par- 
titioned otf  from  his  stable.  Towards  the  African  race  it  was 
shown  when  he  planned  with  the  intelligent  colored  sea  cap- 
tain, Paul  Cuffee,  the  tirst  colonization  scheme  to  Christianize 
Africa  with  emancipated  Christian  negroes.  It  was  shown 
equally  in  his  zealous  cooperation  with  the  first  planners  of 
the  American  Bible  Society,  the  Andover  Theological  Semi- 
nary, and  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions.  In  the  last  years  of  his  life  this  ruling  passion 
exerted  itself  in  labors  among  the  American  Indians. 

Hospitality  was  the  sign  of  my  father's  house,  not  for  the 
wealthy  and  distinguished  alone,  but  for  the  poor  and  unpre- 
tending. Talleyrand  when  an  exile  was  cordially  entertained, 
but  not  more  so  than  were  some  of  his  poorer  clerical  brethren. 
I  remember  well  the  tears  of  gratitude  of  a  Frenchman  to 
whom  he  had  given  a  small  sum,  with  letters  that  had  procured 
for  him  a  i^osition  as  a  teacher.  'I  wanted  sympathy,'  he  said, 
'more  than  money,  but  you  gave  both.' " 

His  youngest  son,  my  father,  writes  of  him : 

"Nothing  affords  me  more  pleasure  than  recalling  the  traits 
of  one  so  venerated  by  his  children  as  was  my  father.  His 
industry  was  a  prominent  characteristic.  Throughout  his 
whole  life  he  had  no  idle  moments.  His  rest  consisted  in 
change  of  laborious  occupation.  He  always  traveled  with 
notebook  in  hand.  Once  in  the  boat  on  the  Erie  Canal,  with  a 
delightful  party  on  board,  among  whom  was  DeWitt  Clinton, 
he  allowed  himself  to  be  detained  from  this  pleasant  company 
an  hour  or  more  in  the  cabin,  to  get  some  information  from 
a  passenger,  who  at  length  emerging  on  deck  was  thus  accosted 
by  Mr.  Clinton,  'Now,  friend,  you  are  like  an  exhausted  re- 
ceiver, Dr.  Morse  has  pumped  you  dry.' 

I  vividly  call  him  to  mind,  now  gathering  materials  for  his 
Geographj-  and  superintending  its  publication,  now  writing 
his  sermon  for  the  Sabbath,  or  letters  to  his  correspondents  in 
our  own  and  foreign  lands,  now  hurrying  to  the  Convention, 
the  Association,  or  other  public  meeting,  now  visiting  the 
sick  and  bereaved,  and  now  hospitably  entertaining  his 
friends;  for,  as  Daniel  Webster  said  of  him,  'He  was  always 
thinking,  always  writing,  always  talking,  always  acting.' 

To  his  children  he  would  say,  when  the  day  was  fair,  'Now, 
boys,  is  the  time  for  study,  for  all  is  bright  and  cheerful.'  And 
when  the  sky  was  lowering  the  word  still  was,  'Study,  boys, 
to  drive  away  discontent.'    But  he  had  no  need  to  speak  to  us. 


8  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

If  we  were  disposed  to  be  idle,  his  own  example  of  industry 
was  incentive  enough,  lOven  in  his  journeys,  recreation  was 
sacrificed  to  business.  His  physician,  referring  to  his  habit 
of  rapid  traveling,  said,  'He  first  wore  out  his  mind  in  his 
study  at  home,  and  then  jumped  into  the  stage-coach,  and  rode 
day  and  night  till  his  body  was  exhausted.  When  an  equi- 
librium was  thus  produced,  he  pronounced  himself  well.' 

When  persuaded  that  he  was  in  the  way  of  duty,  he  was  fear- 
less of  consequences  and  was  sometimes  insulted  by  rude  men. 
Once  as  he  was  going  to  cast  his  vote  at  an  election,  when 
party  politics  ran  high  and  the  propriety  of  a  clergyman's 
voting  was  questioned,  a  coarse  fellow,  soliciting  votes  for  the 
other  side,  used  offensive  language,  and  doubling  his  fist 
threatened  to  thrust  him  from  the  polls,  adding,  'Only  your 
cloth  protects  you.'  Looking  his  antagonist  calmly  in  the  eye, 
he  said,  'My  friend,  you  are  mistaken,  my  cloth  protects  you.' 
I  always  associate  with  my  father  the  ideas  of  indomitable 
energy  and  irrepressible  buoyancy.  While  others  doubted  and 
were  desponding,  his  motto  ever  was,  Nil  desperandum.  Chief 
Justice  Parsons,  referring  to  the  futile  attempts  of  his  politi- 
cal opponents  to  destroy  his  influence,  said  of  him,  'He  is  like 
the  camomile  bed,  the  more  it  is  trod  upon  the  more  it  grows.' 

Though  much  engaged  in  controversy,  his  temper  was  not 
pugnacious,  but  his  conscience  compelled  him  to  the  main- 
tenance of  what  he  regarded  as  vital  truth.  He  was  provi- 
dentially placed  in  a  prominent  position,  at  a  time  when  a 
revolution  took  place  in  the  theological  world  around  him. 
He  stood  in  the  breach  and  upon  him  fell  blows  which  might 
have  been  justly  shared  by  others.  He  would  sometimes  say 
pleasantly  of  those  who  opposed  him,  that  they  unwittingly 
complimented  him  by  ascribing  to  him  alone  'The  Panoplist, 
the  General  Association,  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary, 
Park  Street  Church  in  Boston,  and  whatever  like  mischiefs 
occurred.'  Dr.  Joseph  Lyman,  a  leading  clergj^man  in  the 
western  part  of  the  state,  when  visiting  him  in  Charlestown, 
used  to  say,  'It  matters  not  what  I  do  here.  Dr.  Morse  will 
bear  the  blame.' 

Two  persons  more  unlike  than  my  parents  in  their  tem- 
peraments, and  yet  more  affectionatel}'  united  in  their  lives 
could  hardly  be  found.  He  was  sanguine,  easily  imposed  on, 
prompt  to  engage  in  whatever  scheme  approved  itself  worthy, 
ignoring  difficulty  and  danger.  But  her  caution  and  cooler 
judgment  served  as  a  balance  wheel  to  his  impulsive  nature, 
and  lessened  the  evils  into  which  such  a  nature  betrayed  him. 
She  sometimes  complained  to  her  friends  that,  but  for  her 
restraint,  he  would  beggar  himself  to  bestow  charities  on 
others.  Yet,  under  the  provocation  of  injuries,  her  patience 
and  forbearance  gave  way  sooner  than  his.     Says  a  member 


HEREDITY  9 

of  liis  parish,  'Hearing  of  a  painful  interview,  I  called  on  him 
to  learn  the  particulars  and  relieve  my  anxiet}'.  The  Doctor 
related .  the  facts  in  his  usual  calm,  mild  manner,  but  Mrs. 
Morse,  who  sat  by,  less  disposed  than  her  husband  to  hide 
her  displeasure  at  the  unworthy  treatment  he  had  received, 
expressed  warm  indignation,  and  when  he  gently  placed  his 
hand  on  her  shoulder  and  said,  "You  know,  my  dear,  we  must 
cast  the  mantle  of  charity  over  the  faults  of  others,"  she  re- 
plied, with  no  abatement  of  her  earnestness,  "Mr.  Morse, 
charity  is  not  a  fool."  ' 

He  was  ever  ready  to  use  his  money  and  influence  for  the 
good  of  others.  The  poor  found  in  him  an  active  friend,  and 
I  could  mention  instances  where  he  suffered  loss  himself 
rather  than  have  it  fall  on  those  who  were  less  able  to  bear 
it.  One  who  had  infringed  upon  the  copyright  of  his  Geog- 
raphy found  him  in  the  hour  of  need  a  friend  and  a  benefactor. 
His  acquaintance  with  distinguished  men  abroad  caused  him 
to  be  applied  to  often  by  persons  going  to  Europe  for  letters 
of  introduction,  and  the  thanks  sent  him  in  return  show  how 
important  these  letters  were  to  the  bearers,  and  the  high 
estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  such  men  as  Dr.  Erskine, 
Wilberforce,  and  others.  A  letter  to  Talleyrand,  then  high  in 
power,  who  had  once  been  a  guest  at  our  house,  procured  for 
the  bearer  very  courteous  reception  and  timely  aid. 

He  was  a  sweet  singer.  His  study  windows  overlooked  the 
Charles  Kiver,  and  often  of  a  quiet  Sunday  morning,  as  the 
chime  of  bells  in  the  tower  of  Christ  Church,  Boston,  floated 
the  tune  of  'Old  Portugal'  over  the  water,  I  have  heard  him 
catch  the  inspiration,  take  up  the  notes,  and  shout  aloud: 

'Oh,  could  I  soar  to  worlds  above, 
The  blest  abode  of  peace  and  love.' 

He  always  sang  in  the  pulpit  and  his  rich  silver  voice  could 
be  heard*^  above  all  others.  Once  when  the  choir  took  offense 
at  some  stricture  made  upon  them,  and  absented  themselves 
from  their  seats  for  several  Sabbaths,  he  took  the  whole  sing- 
ing upon  himself  till  they  returned  to  their  duty. 

His  whole  life  was  evidence  of  the  sincerity  of  his  love  to 
God  his  Saviour,  and  to  his  fellowmen,  in  whose  service  he 
wore  himself  out.  He  fought  a  good  fight  and  kept  the  faith. 
He  lives  revered  in  the  memory  of  his  children,  leaving  an 
instructive  example  to  them  and  their  descendants." 

The  first  band  of  American  missionaries  went  out  to  the 
foreign  field  in  1812,  and  consisted  of  Adoniram  Judson, 
Samuel  Newell,  Samuel  Nott  and  their  wives,  Gordon  Hall, 
and  Luther  Eice,    At  the  ordination  service  in  the  Tabernacle 


10  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Church  at  Salem,  Dr.  Morse  offered  the  prayer  of  consecration, 
his  hands  resting  in  benediction  in  this  solemn  act  upon  the  head 
of  Adoniram  Judson.  An  interesting  picture  of  this  ceremony 
is  preserved  among  the  archives  of  the  American  Board.  The 
war  existing  at  this  time  (1812)  between  Britain  and  the  United 
States  caused  the  East  India  Company  to  suspect  that  this 
American  missionary  enterprise  was  a  political  plot  concealed 
under  the  guise  of  religion.  Dr.  Morse  therefore  wrote  Wilber- 
force  in  1814,  asking  his  influential  aid  in  removing  such  an 
unjust  prejudice.  This  resulted  in  the  Directors  of  the  com- 
pany "authorizing  the  Governor  of  Bombay,  Sir  Evan  Nepean, 
to  allow  the  American  missionaries  to  remain  in  India."^ 

In  home  missionary  work,  as  secretary  of  "The  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  Among  the  Indians,"  he 
began,  among  other  activities,  to  publish  and  distribute  tracts. 
This  led  to  his  securing  the  cooperation  of  members  of  his  own 
church.  A  room  in  his  own  barn  in  1802  was  probably  the  first 
Religious  Tract  Depository  on  this  continent.  Thousands  of 
tracts  he  distributed  as  welcome  helps  to  home  missionaries 
and  other  Christian  workers,  in  over  two  hundred  towns  in 
the  district  of  Maine,  which  was  then  a  part  of  Massachusetts, 
and  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  This  led  to  his  taking  a  lead- 
ing part  in  the  formation  of,  first  the  New  England,  and  later 
the  American  Tract  Society.  He  was  equally  prominent  in 
the  organization  of  Bible  Societies,  not  only  in  New  England, 
but  in  Georgia  and  South  Carolina. 

In  1816,  when  delegates  from  various  Bible  Societies  which 
had  been  formed  in  different  parts  of  the  country  met  in 
New  York  City  and  formed  the  American  Bible  Society,  he 
was  a  delegate  from  Massachusetts  and  served  on  the  com- 
mittee to  draft  the  Constitution.  Of  the  action  taken  he  wrote : 
"A  unanimity  in  this  mixed  body  of  all  denominations  of  Chris- 
tians, so  unexpected,  had  a  surprising  effect  and  drew  tears  of 
joy  from  many  eyes.  It  has  been  one  of  the  most  interesting 
and  happy  meetings  that  I  had  ever  attended."  A  few  years 
later — May  2,  1821 — at  the  anniversary  of  this  Society  in 
the  City  Hotel  of  New  York,  he  delivered  an  address  which 
deeply  impressed  a  young  man  present — Samuel  Hanson  Cox. 
Thirty  jears  afterward  this  young  man  at  the  beginning  of  an- 

2  "Life  of  Jedediah  Morse,"  p.  64. 


HEREDITY  11 

other  interdenominational  organization — The  Evangelical  Al- 
liance— recalled  and  repeated  the  following  words  of  Dr.  Morse : 
"This  is  one  of  the  signs  of  the  times,  one  of  the  wonders  of 
Providence.  But  all  we  now  see  is  less  the  end  than  the  begin- 
ning. It  will  be  wonder  following  wonder  until  wonders  be- 
come the  order  of  the  day,  the  steady  and  established  method 
of  Providence.  New  resources  will  be  ojiened.  New  truth 
will  be  learned — new  only  to  us,  though  old  itself  as  its  Eternal 
Author!" 

Dr.  Morse  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-five  of  "old  age,"  never 
strong  physically,  jet  so  ceaselessly  active  that  the  body  could 
no  longer  endure  the  strain  of  over-exertion  to  which  it  was 
subjected. 

The  Sons  of  Dr.  Morse 

Three  sons  of  Dr.  Morse  survived  him,  with  their  mother, 
Elizabeth  Ann  Breeze  Morse.  The  mother  was  the  only  child 
of  her  mother,  who  in  turn  was  the  only  child  of  Dr.  Samuel 
Finley,  President  of  Princeton  College.  So  that  among  these 
sons  and  their  children  are  to  be  found  all  the  lineal  descend- 
ants of  Dr.  Finle}'.  The  three  sons  lived  to  an  advanced  age — 
beyond  three  score  and  ten.  They  followed  their  father  as 
students  at  Yale  College,  graduating  in  the  classes  of  1810, 
1811,  and  1812. 

The  eldest,  Samuel  Finley  Breeze  Morse,  became  an  artist  of 
distinction  as  one  of  the  founders,  and  for  fifteen  years  a 
President  of  the  National  Academy  of  Design,  in  New  York 
City.  But  he  is  far  more  widely  and  deservedly  known  as  the 
inventor  of  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph.^ 

The  second  son,  Sidney  Edwards  Morse,  after  graduating 
at  Yale  in  1811,  continued  his  studies  at  Andover  Seminary, 
and  at  the  Law  School  in  Litchfield,  Connecticut.  He  entered 
actively  into  some  of  the  tasks  of  his  father,  by  whom  he  was 
induced  to  edit  The  Boston  Recorder  during  its  first  year,  1816. 
He  had  become  more  closely  occupied,  however,  beginning  in 
the  year  1814,  with  a  thorough  and  masterly  reediting  of  the 
valuable  geographical  works  and  material  collected  by  Dr. 
Morse.     Later  he  prepared  those  editions  of  "Morse's  School 


•  His  latest  Biography,  by  his  sod,  Edward  Lind  Morse,  published  in  1914,  contains  the 
fullest  and  best  account  of  his  life. 


12  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Geography,"  which  continued  in  very  general  use  beyond  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  as  long  as  the  son  could 
continue  to  edit  them.  As  a  part  of  this  undertaking,  he  in- 
vented a  mode  of  engraving  adapted  to  the  production  of  plates 
for  printing  maps,  in  connection  with  type,  by  the  common 
printing-press.  He  applied  this  new  art,  which  he  named  cerog- 
raphy,  to  the  illustration  of  a  School  Geography,  published  in 
1844.  The  cheapness  of  its  manufacture  by  the  new  process 
and  its  great  value,  gave  the  book  at  once  an  immense  circula- 
tion— over  100,000  copies  during  its  first  year — a  rate  which 
was  maintained  for  many  years  and  which  could  have  been 
increased  had  he  been  able  to  continue  to  edit  later  editions. 

But  the  principal  energy  of  his  life  was  to  be  successfully 
given  to  another  undertaking,  intimately  connected  with  what 
was  central  and  dominating  in  the  life  work  of  his  father. 
In  this  enterprise  of  a  new  journalism  his  younger  brother, 
Richard  Gary  Morse,  was  closely  and  at  first  indispensably 
associated.  Indeed,  it  was  only  owing  to  the  persistent  impor- 
tunity of  the  younger  brother  that  Sidney  Morse  was  led  to 
give  his  essential  leadership  and  rare  editorial  ability  to  what 
was  in  1823  a  novel  undertaking. 

This  youngest  son  of  Dr.  Morse  was  my  father,  whose  name 
I  have  the  honor  of  bearing.  The  call  extended  to  my  grand- 
father by  the  church  in  Charlestown  in  1789  was  signed  by 
Richard  Gary,  as  chairman  of  the  Ghurch  Gommittee  and  lead- 
ing member  of  the  parish.  In  his  home  the  new  pastor  resided 
before  a  parsonage  was  provided  for  him.  Within  a  year 
Richard  Gary  was  suddenly  removed  by  death.  First  on  the 
list  of  Dr.  Morse's  sermons  in  print  is  "A  Sermon  on  the  Death 
of  Richard  Gary,  Esq.,  preached  Lord's  Day,  February  28th, 
1790."  Five  years  afterward,  when  their  third  son  was  born, 
the  pastor  and  his  wife  gave  him  the  name  of  their  honored 
friend,  the  layman  leader  in  the  work  of  the  church,  whose 
memory  they  affectionately  cherished. 

My  father  followed  his  two  older  brothers  at  Phillips 
Academy,  Andover,  an  institution  of  which  Dr.  Morse  was 
one  of  the  trustees.  At  the  age  of  eleven  he  successfully  passed 
the  examination  to  enter  Yale.  His  father  wisely  postponed 
for  two  years  his  entering  college,  so  he  joined  the  class  of 
1812  and  graduated,  its  youngest  member,  at  the  age  of  seven- 


HEREDITY  13 

teen.  His  name  is  on  the  roll  of  "The  Moral  Society,"-*  a 
secret  student  fraternity,  the  members  of  which  accomplished 
an  excellent  religious  work  among  their  fellow  students,  bring- 
ing strong  reenforcement  to  the  preaching  and  influence  of 
President  Dwight.  The  work  of  this  society  had  been  one  of 
the  influences  producing  the  revival  at  Yale  in  1802.  It  was 
equally  influential  in  the  revival  of  1808,  the  year  preceding 
my  father  s  entering  college. 

The  first  name  on  the  roll  of  class  deacons  at  Yale  is  that 
of  Ward  Stafford,^  my  father's  roommate  during  his  four  years 
at  college.  Of  him  I  find  the  following  account,  given  by  one 
of  my  father's  brothers  and  written  many  years  after  they 
had  been  in  college  together:  ''Ward  Stafford  was  a  New 
Hampshire  farmer's  boy  at  Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  in 
training  there  to  become  a  country  school-master.  My  younger 
brother,  Richard,  was  then  at  the  Academy  preparing  for  col- 
lege. Rooming  with  Stafford,  and  appreciating  his  talents 
and  Christian  spirit,  he  presented  his  case  to  my  father.  Dr. 
Morse  at  once  procured  for  his  son's  classmate  the  support  he 
needed  to  go  through  college." 

After  graduation  Stafford  became  a  missionary  to  the  poor 
in  New  York  City  on  a  plan  originated  by  himself  and  set 
forth  in  a  small  work,  "A  Missionary  Field,"  which  Governor 
DeWitt  Clinton  pronounced  "a  masterly  performance"  and 
which  prepared  the  way  for  the  city  missions  ultimately  estab- 
lished in  this  country  and  Europe.  His  labors  among  seamen 
ripened  into  the  American  Seamen's  Friend  Society.  He  also 
engaged  in  the  establishment  of  Sunday  schools  in  New  York. 
When  visiting  Dr.  Morse  at  Charlestown  in  1816,  he  gave  a 
series  of  lectures  in  Boston  by  which  he  suggested  to  Dr.  Joshua 
Huntington,  of  Old  South  Church,  and  his  associates  the  found- 
ing of  the  Boston  City  Missionary  Society  and  he  also  enlisted 
Dr.  Morse  in  what  was  then  an  equally  novel  undertaking. 
"For  at  that  time  Sabbath  schools  were  regarded  as  fitted  only 
for  children  of  the  poor,  in  such  cities  as  London  and  New  York. 


■♦  Wright,  "Two  Centuries  of  Christian  Activity  at  Yale,"  pp.  56-65. 

Of  this  society,  founded  in  1797,  Professor  Henry  B.  Wright  of  Yale  in  his  volume  "Two 
Centuries  of  Christian  Acti^aty  at  Yale,"  says:  "The  records  of  the  Moral  Society  in  the  Yale 
Library  establish  the  fact  that  religious  work  by  students  and  for  students,  which  is  popularly 
supposed  to  have  begun  in  organized  form  at  Yale  with  the  founding  in  1879  of  the  Christian 
Social  Union,  dates  from  nearly  a  century  before." 

» Ibid.,  p.  327. 


14  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Some  thought  for  a  church  to  open  a  school  on  the  Lord's  day 
would  be  a  profanation  of  the  Sabbath!  But  Dr.  Morse  ex- 
amined Stafford's  proposal  carefully,  and  as  a  result  founded, 
in  connection  with  his  church,  the  first  Sabbath  School  Society 
in  Massachusetts  and  of  it  his  two  older  sons  were  the  first 
two  superintendents."*^ 

Following  his  graduation,  during  the  years  of  another  revival 
at  Yale,'  my  father  lived  in  the  family  as  the  amanuensis  or 
secretary  of  his  father's  friend  President  Timothy  Dwight. 
This  revival  was  distinctly  a  student  movement,  owing  its 
initiative  and  strength  to  the  members  of  the  Moral  Society. 
Of  this  period  at  Yale,  Dr.  Henry  B.  Wright,  in  his  record  of 
"Two  Centuries  of  Christian  Activity  at  Yale"  says,  "It  was 
during  these  years  of  active  evangelistic  effort  at  Yale,  that 
the  Unitarian  Movement — whose  creed  was  that  'Salvation 
must  be  obtained  by  culture' — obtained  control  of  Harvard.  As 
President  Hadley  has  shown^  4t  was  in  large  measure  because 
of  her  firm  adherence  to  the  prevailing  religious  views  of  the 
country  at  that  time,  while  Harvard  embraced  a  never  generally 
accepted  theory,  that  Yale  soon  became  a  national  institution, 
drawing  her  students  from  all  countries  and  creeds.  In  Peter 
Parley's  'Recollections  of  a  Lifetime'  we  get  a  glimpse  of  the 
veneration  with  which  Yale  was  regarded  by  outsiders  in  those 
days.  'In  the  summer  of  1809  he  visited  New  Haven,  then  a 
sort  of  Jerusalem  in  his  imagination,  a  holy  place  containing 
Yale  College  of  which  Dr.  Dwight  was  President.'  '"^ 

At  Andover  Theological  Seminary  my  father  passed  through 
the  three  years'  course  and  was  licensed  to  preach  in  1817. 
The  following  winter  he  spent  in  South  Carolina  as  a  supply 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  on  John's  Island,  and  on  his  return 
to  New  England  was  for  some  years  associated  with  his  father 
and  brother  Sidney,  in  arduous  geographical  work. 

The  Boston  Recorder  had  been  successfully  carried  through 
its  first  year — 1816 — owing  to  the  support  it  received  from  Dr. 
Morse,  and  the  labors  as  editor  of  his  son  Sidney.  It  was  the 
beginning  of  that  class  of  periodicals  called  "religious  news- 
papers" which  have  since  become  very  numerous.     Indeed  the 

6  Memorabilia  in  the  "Life  of  Jedediah  Morse,  D.D.,"  pp.  1-3. 

'  Wright,  "Two  Centuries  of  Christian  Activity  at  Yale,"  pp.  67-70, 

*  Hadley,  "Four  American  Universities,"  pp.  49-50. 

"  Wright,  "Two  Centuries  of  Christian  Activity  at  Yale,"  pp.  68-69. 


HEREDITY  15 

plan  was  at  once  so  favorably  received,  that  during  1816  as 
many  as  twenty  newspapers  in  different  parts  of  the  country 
attempted  to  become  ''religious  newspapers"  by  devoting  several 
columns  each  week  to  religious  intelligence.  But  the  etfect 
upon  Sidney  Morse  of  this  first  year's  experience  as  an  editor 
was — to  use  his  own  words — "an  enthusiastic  desire  to  carry 
out  my  plan  of  a  'religious  newspaper'  more  perfectly  and  on 
a  larger  scale  than  was  possible  in  Boston,  and  at  a  center 
where  all  the  leading  religious  denominations  were  evangelical 
and  would  give  me  cordial  and  generous  support.  Accordingly 
I  communicated  the  plan  in  a  letter  to  my  friend  Kev,  Lyman 
Beecher,  of  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  who  responded  in  terms  of 
eulogy  of  it,  and  with  the  assurance  that  all  the  leading  clergy 
and  laymen  of  his  acquaintance  would  zealously  aid  me  in  the 
execution  of  it.  Circumstances  prevented  immediate  action 
on  my  part." 

These  "circumstances"  included  a  growing  absorption  in 
the  geographical  and  other  enterprises  of  his  father,  with  which 
his  brother  Richard,  however,  was  fortunately  less  absorbed 
and  preoccupied.  For  the  latter  felt  a  deeper  and  more  en- 
thusiastic interest  in  reproducing  and  enlarging  the  interde- 
nominational "religious  newspaper"  enterprise  of  his  father 
and  older  brother.  Accordingly,  with  the  consent  of  both  of 
them,  he  left  them  at  the  home  of  the  family  in  New  Haven 
early  in  1823  and  went  to  New  York  City  as  a  forerunner  in 
the  proposed  undertaking.  He  was  received  cordially  by  the 
many  friends  of  his  honored  father  among  the  clergy  and  laity 
of  the  various  denominations.  In  response  to  his  urgent  initia- 
tive, a  prospectus  was  prepared  by  his  brother  in  New  Haven 
and  with  varied  material  from  him  and  others  the  first  numbers 
of  the  paper  were  issued  under  the  name  of  The  Neiv  York 
Observer. 

Sidney  Morse  slowly  yielded  to  the  importunity  in  both  word 
and  deed  of  Richard  and  finally  removed  his  residence  from 
New  Haven  to  New  York,  earlier  than  he  had  thought  it  pos- 
sible to  separate  himself  from  other  obligations.  Thus  his 
essential  leadership  at  the  place  of  publication  was  secured. 
My  father  was  released  to  equally  needed  laborious  effort  in 
increasing  the  circulation  of  the  new  paper.  Since  the  success 
of  the  Recorder  in  Boston,  every  prior  attempt  to  establish 


16  My  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

a  religious  paper  in  the  State  of  New  York  had  failed.  But 
the  Observer  was  so  edited,  and  its  circulation  so  vigorously 
promoted  by  the  sons  of  Dr.  Morse  that  it  became  under  their 
management,  for  a  considerable  period,  the  most  widely  cir- 
culated religious  newspaper  in  the  land.  Soon  the  number  of 
subscribers  was  two  or  three  times  as  large  as  that  of  the 
Recorder,  which  continued  to  be  the  leading  religious  news- 
paper of  New  England,  and  both  papers  during  the  generation 
following  the  death  of  Dr.  Morse,  in  1826,  were  conducted 
on  the  basis,  and  in  the  promotion  of  that  interdenominational, 
evangelical  fellowship — also  manifested  in  the  growth  of  the 
Bible  and  Tract  Societies,  with  the  origin  of  which  Dr.  Morse 
was  equally  identified.  This  broad  Christian  fellowship,  it 
was  the  lifelong,  industrious  endeavor  of  the  founders  of  the 
Observer  to  foster  and  extend.  Many  years  after  they  were 
both  strongly  identified  also  with  successful  efforts  to  estab- 
lish the  Evangelical  Alliance,  formed  in  1846. 

The  Observer  was  founded  when  the  news  of  the  day  was 
carried  to  the  public  in  weekly  papers.  Such  a  paper,  carrying 
a  religious  tract  and  religious  intelligence  in  every  issue,  was 
produced  for  some  years  by  the  founders.  Chancellor  Kent 
at  this  time  said :  "When  I  have  read  the  Observer  I  have  no 
need  of  any  other  newspaper."  With  the  advent  of  the  penny 
press  and  the  modern  daily  paper  a  change  to  a  daily  was 
favored  by  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Observer — so  he  once 
told  me.  In  that  event,  the  paper  in  due  time  and  in  accord 
with  its  original  design  would  have  become  a  member  of  the 
New  York  Associated  Press. 

During  the  strenuous  years  of  his  wide  travel  in  search  of 
subscribers  for  the  Observer,  my  father  went  to  Claverack,  a 
suburb  of  the  city  of  Hudson.  There  he  found  my  mother, 
who  was  "the  beautiful  and  attractive  belle  of  the  little  village." 
It  was  a  case  of  "love  at  first  sight" — a  love  so  true  that  it 
patiently  endured  until  it  received  its  response  and  due  reward. 

Sarah  Louisa  Davis  was  the  daughter  of  William  Davis,  who 
lost  his  life  as  a  soldier  during  the  War  of  1812.  His  mother 
was  the  daughter  of  Dominie  Gabriel  Gebhard,  of  Claverack,  a 
native  of  Walldorf,  an  ancient  village  of  Baden,  in  Southern 
Germany.  He  was  a  student  at  Heidelberg  and  a  graduate  in 
theology  of  the  University  of  Utrecht  in  Holland.   He  came  to 


HEREDITY  17 

New  York  and  just  before  the  outbreak  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion was  settled  as  pastor  of  one  of  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Churches  in  that  city.  Early  in  that  struggle,  when  the  city 
passed  into  the  possession  of  the  British,  Dominie  Gebhard 
removed  up  the  Hudson  River  to  Claverack,  where  for  forty 
years,  during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  he  served  acceptably  as 
pastor  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  of  that  village.  During 
this  period  he  established  the  school  known,  for  more  than  a 
century  afterward,  as  the  Hudson  Academy. 

After  the  Revolution  another  native  of  Waldorf  came  to  New 
York  in  the  person  of  John  Jacob  Astor,  and  joined  the 
Dominie  as  a  fellow  citizen  of  the  new  republic.  The  Claver- 
ack parsonage  was  located  on  the  old  Albany  Road,  which 
the  New  York  merchant  often  traveled  during  the  period  when 
he  sought  pelts  and  furs  in  northern  New  York  and  Canada. 
Going  and  returning  he  was  welcomed  at  the  parsonage,  and 
the  two  friends  exchanged  interesting  news  from  their  native 
village,  and  discussed  the  differing  experiences  of  their  lives 
in  the  new  country. 

In  my  ancestry  as  an  American  citizen  and  churchman  the 
presence  of  the  clergyman  is  strongly  pronounced,  my  father, 
his  father.  Dr.  Morse,  and  his  great-grandfather.  President 
Samuel  Finley,  belonging  to  that  calling,  while  my  mother's 
grandfather  was  Dominie  Gabriel  Gebhard.  It  is  an  ancestry 
somewhat  international  also,  relating  me  not  only  to  the  clergy 
of  my  own  country,  but  also  to  that  of  Britain,  Germany,  and 
Holland — a  genuine  American  heredity. 


CHAPTER  II 

CHILDHOOD 

Of  the  children  of  my  father  and  mother  I  was  the  seventh 
child  and  third  son.  My  oldest  brother  died  in  infancy.  Five 
sisters  and  four  brothers  survived  our  parents  and  these  nine 
children,  as  an  unbroken  company,  enjoyed  delightful  family 
fellowship  for  forty-four  years — from  1847  when  the  youngest 
child  was  born  until  1891,  when  our  eldest  '^mother  sister," 
Mrs.  Samuel  Colgate,  who,  beyond  all  others,  lovingly  pro- 
moted our  family  fellowship,  passed  on  to  her  reward  at  the 
close  of  a  life  unselfishly  devoted  to  the  happiness  and  highest 
welfare  of  all  she  loved  best.  She  was  graciously  endowed 
with  a  disposition  and  ability  to  help  also  a  multitude  in  the 
time  of  their  need.  The  majority  of  this  family  of  nine,  two 
sisters  and  three  brothers,  are  still  (1917)  living,  all  of  us 
beyond  the  limit  of  "three  score  years  and  ten." 

Childhood,  1841-1853 

I  was  born  on  Sunday,  September  19,  1841,  at  Hudson, 
New  York,  where  the  family  was  spending  the  summer. 

A  writer  born  about  this  period  says  of  it:  ''In  May,  1844, 
telegraphic  messages  carried  from  Baltimore  to  Washington 
the  news  that  Henry  Clay  and  James  K.  Polk  were  nominated 
for  the  Presidency.  About  this  time  the  first  railroads  were 
being  built  and  the  first  Cunard  steamers  were  crossing  the 
Atlantic."  He  might  have  added  also  that  on  June  6,  1844,  in 
the  city  of  London  the  parent  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation was  organized. 

In  the  nursery  annals  it  is  related  that,  soon  after  I  had 
learned  to  talk,  an  attack  of  dropsy  on  the  brain  proved  nearly 
fatal.  When  their  son's  life  had  been  quite  despaired  of, 
friends  sought  to  comfort  the  parents  with  the  assurance  that, 
even  if  the  boy  should  recover,  he  would  never  have  the  use 
of  his  faculties!  When  the  crisis  was  passed,  in  the  period 
of  convalescence  the  solicitude  of  my  parents  was  relieved  one 

18 


CHILDHOOD  19 

day  in  the  following  manner:  It  was  the  kindly  practice  of 
our  family  physician  on  his  daily  visit  to  give  each  child  a 
lozenge.  One  day,  my  older  brother  not  being  at  home,  the 
doctor  gave  two  lozenges  to  me,  one  being  for  the  absentee. 
When  my  brother  returned,  seeing  a  lozenge  in  my  hand,  he 
asked  for  it.  "No,"  I  said,  "I  have  eaten  yours,  this  one  is 
mine." 

Before  reaching  the  age  of  five  I  was  sent  to  school.  At  six, 
I  had  committed  to  memory  the  107  answers  to  the  questions 
of  the  Shorter  Catechism.  This  task  was  accomplished  in 
due  succession  by  each  of  my  father's  nine  children,  under  his 
careful  instruction.  It  was  done  with  such  thoughtful  con- 
sideration and  guidance  on  his  part  as  to  relieve  the  task  of 
the  dislike  or  aversion  too  often  connected  with  it.  This  is 
one  of  many  evidences  which  might  be  given,  of  the  rare  com- 
bination of  wisdom,  affection,  and  patience  with  which  he 
trained  his  children.  His  efforts  were  accompanied  by  the 
loving,  unselfish,  untiring  tenderness  of  my  mother,  who  was 
spared  to  her  children  only  until  I  was  nine  years  of  age. 

Early  every  Sunday  evening  a  family  service  was  held.  In 
this  home  Sunday  school  mj"  father  began  by  asking  for  such 
an  account  as  each  could  give  of  the  sermons  to  which  we  had 
listened  that  day.  Then  followed  the  asking  of  questions  from 
the  Shorter  Catechism.  The  practice  of  reporting  the  sermon, 
thus  begun,  was  continued  faithfully  at  my  father's  request, 
by  each  of  us  when  away  from  home,  as  we  wrote  to  him  our 
weekly  letter,  whether  absent  at  school  or  college  or  on  visits 
to  friends.  This  feature  of  Puritan  Sabbath  observance,  car- 
ried down  to  us  by  our  father,  did  not  prove  distasteful  to  his 
children,  and  by  more  than  one  of  them  has  been  reproduced 
in  a  modified  form  for  their  children,  selected  hymns  com- 
mitted to  memory  being  substituted  for  the  Catechism. 

After  his  marriage,  in  1827,  my  father's  house  and  home 
were  soon  established  in  New  York.  Both  his  older  brothers, 
one  as  a  widower  and  the  other  as  a  bachelor,  continued  un- 
married for  many  years  and  this  home  was  always  the  place 
of  resort  and  residence  for  them  during  their  stay  in  the  city. 
It  was  the  home  until  1850  of  my  Uncle  Sidney,  who  made  us 
nine  children  feel  toward  him  as  to  a  second  father  and  who 
in  his  will  remembered  us  all  in  a  fatherly  fashion.     In  this 


20  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

home  the  oldest  of  the  brothers,  Professor  Morse,  was  fre- 
quently and  always  a  welcome  guest,  especially  during  the 
long  years  of  his  struggle  with  the  many  obstacles  in  the  path 
of  his  recognition  as  an  inventor.  Here  he  came  in  1832  on 
his  arrival  from  Europe,  after  that  memorable  voyage  on  the 
ship  Sully,  during  which  he  made  a  beginning  of  his  invention 
of  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph.  He  occupied  our  front 
parlor  for  his  first  experiments,  and  burnt  a  hole  in  my 
mother's  best  carpet — an  event  which  later  became  of  enough 
importance  to  summon  her  to  the  witness  stand,  to  establish 
in  court,  beyond  controversy,  that  at  that  early  date  he  had 
begun  his  labors  upon  the  invention  of  his  telegraphic  instru- 
ment. Of  later  date  is  my  earliest  recollection  of  him  and 
his  frequent  arrivals  at  our  home  on  important  errands,  always 
relating  as  I  was  told  to  "Uncle  Finley's  lawsuits."  These 
grew  out  of  the  long  controversy  in  the  courts  concerning  his 
just  claims  as  an  inventor — claims  finally  passed  upon  favor- 
ably by  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

But  our  guests  were  not  confined  to  members  of  the  family, 
for  the  home  was  'as  full  of  hospitality  as  of  children.  There 
seemed  no  limit  to  what  my  mother  was  willing  to  do  for 
others,  in  addition  to  all  she  was  doing  with  untiring  fidelity 
for  her  children.  One  year  the  entire  family — wife  and  chil- 
dren— of  a  friend  was  hospitably  entertained  in  our  home  for 
some  months,  while  the  father,  a  clergyman,  was  without  a 
parish.  It  was  an  act  of  friendship,  the  grateful  memory  of 
which  has  been  cherished  by  children  and  children's  children. 

When  I  was  eight  years  old,  the  family  moved  from  Bank 
Street  near  Bleecker  to  a  house  then  ''far  uj)  town,"  built  by 
my  father  on  the  northern  side  of  Twenty-second  Street  be- 
tween Broadway  and  Fourth  Avenue.  There  were  then  few 
houses  in  that  block  and  neighborhood.  From  our  rear  win- 
dows looking  north  across  Madison  Square  no  houses  inter- 
fered with  our  view  of  the  Reservoir  on  Forty-second  Street, 
which  occupied  what  is  now  (1917)  the  site  on  Fifth  Avenue 
of  the  Public  Library.  On  many  of  the  vacant  lots  between, 
we  boys  skated  in  the  winter  time. 

From  our  rear  windows  also  we  looked  upon  the  nearby 
southwestern  corner  of  Twenty-third  Street  and  Fourth 
Avenue  where  stood  a  small  frame  house.     In  the  rear  of  it 


CHILDHOOD  21 

directly  under  our  eyes  was  a  little  garden,  where  we  used 
to  watch  an  aged  man  at  work  among  his  flowers  and  vege- 
tables. He  was  very  interesting  to  us  because  we  were  told 
he  was  Mayor  Tiemann's  father  and  that  no  one  could  obtain 
that  land  and  house  until  the  old  man  died.  We  wondered 
how  long  it  would  be  before  he  and  his  house  would  disappear. 
Less  than  twenty  years  passed  away  and  on  that  site  was 
erected  the  first  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  building, 
which  in  this  or  any  city  accommodated  the  fourfold  work 
for  young  men.  I  was  present  at  the  laying  of  its  corner  stone 
and  at  its  dedication  and  then  within  the  building  in  the  Inter- 
national Committee's  first  office,  I  spent  the  first  strenuous 
nineteen  years  of  my  life  work  with  the  Committee,  and  the 
brotherhood  it  serves. 

My  father  was  fond  of  travel  by  sea.  He  once  told  me  that 
if  he  had  followed  his  own  preference  in  the  choice  of  a  voca- 
tion he  would  have  been  a  sea-captain,  but  such  a  choice  he 
knew  would  greatly  disappoint  his  father.  This  led  him  to 
abandon  it.  Like  his  father  he  was  not  vigorous  physically, 
and  was  subject  to  severe  attacks  of  dyspepsia.  But  on  the 
sea  he  was  always  in  good  health.  This  led  to  his  crossing  the 
Atlantic  oftener  than  at  that  period  was  usual,  and  once  he 
undertook  a  voyage  around  the  world,  then  accomplished  only 
in  clipper  ships.  In  a  family  discussion  concerning  one  of 
these  voyages,  when  the  remarkable  benefit  he  experienced 
from  this  travel  by  sea  was  being  commented  upon,  one  of  his 
sisters-in-law,  for  whom  such  an  experience  was  an  unspeak- 
able weariness  to  the  flesh,  said  to  him  very  emphatically, 
"You  ought  to  have  been  a  fish !" 

When  I  was  a  boy  nine  years  of  age  I  crossed  the  Atlantic 
in  a  sailing  vessel  with  my  parents  and  an  older  sister.  We 
little  dreamed  it  was  for  me  the  first  of  forty-two  Atlantic 
crossings — almost  all  of  them  upon  errands  connected  with 
the  work  in  life  I  was  to  undertake. 

No  incident  of  my  early  boyhood  is  more  vividly  recalled 
nor  more  worthy  of  record  than  a  scene  and  interview  in  New 
York  harbor  as  we  set  out  upon  this  voyage.  As  a  boy  nine 
years  of  age  I  stood  with  my  parents  and  two  eldest  sisters 
on  the  deck  of  the  packet  ship  Victoria.  With  the  younger  of 
these  sisters  and  my  parents  I  was  setting  out  for  Europe, 


22  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

our  principal  errand  being  the  restoration  of  my  mother's 
health,  impaired  by  the  taxing  activities  of  a  loving  self-for- 
getful life  in  a  home  always  full  of  children  and  often  of 
guests.  For  some  years  she  had  been  an  invalid  and  upon  the 
eldest  daughter — a  girl  just  emerging  from  her  teens — had 
already  fallen,  during  recent  years,  the  motherly  care  of  her 
eight  brothers  and  sisters,  the  youngest  of  whom  even  now 
was  only  three  years  old.  The  mother  was  not  to  return. 
With  a  presentiment  of  this  sad  fact,  at  the  moment  of  their 
parting  she  said  to  her  daughter:  "I  leave  them  all  to  you," 
and  the  answer  she  received  was:  "I  will  take  care  of  them, 
Mother."  It  was  the  promise  of  a  girl  to  undertake  what  at 
that  time  she  seemed  utterly  without  resource  to  accomplish. 
But  during  all  the  remaining  forty-two  years  of  her  mortal 
life,  her  home  was  the  home  of  all  of  us.  She  became  our 
mother-sister  and  the  promise  of  her  youth  was  most  faithfully 
and  lovingly  kept.  Since  her  death  twenty-five  years  more 
have  passed  away,  and  now  the  boy  is  the  only  living  witness 
of  the  promise  she  gave  that  day  sixty-seven  years  ago,  and  his 
testimony  is  that  her  husband  and  children  have  carried  on 
to  children's  children  the  benediction  of  that  blessed  covenant 
and  promise.  Love  is  stronger  than  death  and  all  the  havoc 
even  the  king  of  terrors  can  create  in  the  life  of  home  and 
family  from  generation  to  generation. 

The  winter  following  my  mother's  death  I  spent  with  my 
father  in  southern  France  at  Montauban  in  the  family  of  a 
friend.  Professor  G.  de  Felice.  Here  I  gained  a  knowledge 
of  the  French  language,  which  in  later  years  proved  of  great 
value  to  me.  The  journey  from  Paris  to  Montauban  was  then 
accomplished  in  a  diligence  or  stage  coach,  which  we  entered 
in  Paris.  The  railroad  then  (1851)  had  been  completed  only 
as  far  as  Blois.  So  our  coach  was  placed  on  railroad  trucks 
until  that  city  was  reached.  Then  we  were  put  on  wheels 
and  drawn  by  relays  of  horses  night  and  day  to  Montauban, 
consuming  in  the  journey  more  time  than  now  is  required 
to  go  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco  or  from  London  to 
Constantinople. 

This  was  the  year  (1851)  of  the  first  in  the  series  of  World 
Industrial  Exhibitions.  It  was  held  in  London  in  a  great 
Crystal  Palace  erected  in  Hyde  Park  and  afterward  removed 


CHILDHOOD  23 

to  Sydenham.  During  the  summer  we  visited  this  Palace, 
and  I  remember  seeing  the  venerable  Duke  of  Wellington 
walking  near  his  home,  Apsley  House,  at  the  entrance  to  Hyde 
Park.  He  was  respectfully  saluted  by  every  one  he  met  on 
the  citj'  thoroughfare.  I  had  occasion  to  recall  very  vividly 
the  impression  then  made  upon  me  when,  many  years  later,  I 
was  in  Loudon  and  learned  that  in  this  year  of  the  great  Ex- 
position the  workers  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
were  specially  active  in  tract  distribution  on  the  crowded 
streets  of  the  city.  One  of  the  most  youthful  and  zealous 
workers  ventured  to  hand  a  tract  to  the  venerable  Iron  Duke. 
To  the  surprise  of  lookers-on,  the  aged  man  paused  in  his  walk, 
accepted  the  tract,  and  thanked  the  donor,  in  whose  life  it 
became  a  memorable  event.  In  the  Association  also  it  was 
so  memorable  and  deemed  so  worthy  of  record  and  report  that 
the  story  of  it  was  told  to  me  with  enthusiasm  twenty  years 
afterward. 

In  December  while  we  were  iu  Montauban,  occurred  in  Paris 
the  coup  d'fitat,  by  which  Louis  Napoleon,  or  as  he  was  termed 
at  the  time  by  Victor  Hugo,  "Napoleon  the  Little,"  by  the 
use  of  the  army,  overthrew  the  republic  and  made  himself 
Emperor.  Owing  to  imperial  censorship  of  the  press,  many 
weeks  passed  before  we  received  at  Montauban  full  account 
of  how  the  usurpation  was  accomplished  iu  the  city  of  Paris. 

Also  toward  the  close  of  this  year,  in  November  and  Decem- 
ber at  Montreal  and  Boston  and  during  the  following  June  in 
New  York  and  Washington,  the  first  Y^oung  Men's  Christian 
Associations  began  to  be  formed  in  North  America  by  young 
meu  who  were  influenced  by  contact  with  the  parent  Asso- 
ciation in  London. 

School  Life,  1853-1855 

On  February  17th,  1846,  my  father  writes  to  one  of  my  older 
sisters :  "Dick  began  school  today  at  Mrs.  Saxton's.  He  seems 
to  have  rather  an  old  head  on  his  shoulders,  so  I  am  willing 
to  let  him  go,  though  only  four  years  old.  I  believe  you  were 
not  set  to  learn  your  book  till  you  were  nearly  or  quite  six." 
My  first  absence  from  home  to  attend  school  occurred,  when 
I  was  six  years  of  age,  at  the  school  of  Mrs.  Seeley  in  Morris- 
town,  New  Jersey. 


24  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Upon  our  return  from  France  in  the  spring  of  1852  my 
father  placed  me  for  a  few  months  at  a  small  school  for  boys 
in  Irving  Place,  New  York.  I  tarried  there  for  only  one  term. 
Two  of  my  schoolmates  were  Anson  I*helps  Stokes,  and  his 
younger  brother  James,  with  both  of  whom  in  after  life  I 
became  better  acquainted,  and  with  the  younger  of  whom  I 
have  been  intimately  associated  during  the  entire  period  of 
my  connection  with  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 

At  the  age  of  twelve,  after  a  brief  exjjerience  in  the  public 
school  and  a  term  in  Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  I  attended 
a  family  school  with  three  of  my  sisters  and  my  youngest 
brother,  in  Hartford,  Connecticut,  under  the  care  of  a  sister- 
in-law  of  Horace  Bushnell.  For  two  years  1  had  the  privilege 
of  listening  to  him  every  Sunday  in  the  pulpit  of  the  North 
Church.  Some  of  those  sermons  1  have  remembered  all  my 
life.  He  was  a  gracious  winsome  personality  to  the  boy  parish- 
ioner, whom  he  often  met  in  the  home  of  his  sister.  I  am 
indebted  to  him  for  some  of  the  strongest  impulses  toward 
the  Christian  faith  received  in  that  adolescent  period.  During 
each  year  there  was  a  season  of  special  religious  interest  in 
response  to  the  pastor's  efforts.  I  attended  the  young  people's 
prayer  meetings  and  found  them  interesting  and  helpful. 

The  texts  Dr.  Bushnell  chose  were  often  as  striking  and 
impressive  as  any  i^ortion  of  the  discourse  which  followed. 
For  one  fast-day  sermon  in  that  period  of  anti-slavery  agita- 
tion preceding  the  Civil  War  he  announced  as  his  text :  "Shall 
iron  (southern  iron,  he  explained)  break  the  northern  iron 
and  steel?"  And  on  another  fast-day,  when  the  repeal  of  the 
Nebraska  bill  in  the  interests  of  slavery  had  been  accomplished 
by  Senator  Stephen  Douglas — a  man  of  short  stature — and 
when  great  indignation  was  being  felt  throughout  New  Eng- 
land, the  announcement  of  his  text :  '*The  bed  is  shorter  than 
that  a  man  stretch  himself  upon  it,"  created  the  sensation 
of  the  discourse. 

The  summer  vacation  of  1852  was  spent  with  my  brothers 
and  sisters  in  Woodstock,  Connecticut,  where  we  found  still 
standing — it  has  since  disappeared — the  old  homestead  of  my 
great-grandfather,  Deacon  Jedediah  Morse.  His  family  and 
kith  and  kin  were  numerous,  and  we  children  found  to  our 
surprise,  that  we  had  title  to  call  almost  everybody  in  the 


CHILDHOOD  25 

village  "cousin"  many  degrees,  more  or  less,  removed.  Here 
in  Black  Pond,  for  the  first  time  I  tried  my  hand  at  fishing, 
and  was  very  proud  of  the  results. 

Another  vacation  of  these  years  at  school  has  remained 
vividly  impressed  on  my  mind.  With  my  brothers  and  sisters, 
I  spent  the  summer  of  1854  in  Lenox,  Massachusetts,  then 
beginning  to  be  a  place  of  summer  resort.  Each  Sunday  as 
a  boy  of  thirteen,  accustomed  to  hear  the  sermons  of  Horace 
Bushnell,  I  listened  successively  to  three  ministers,  of  whose 
sermons  on  those  Sundays  I  continue  to  retain  vivid  recollec- 
tion. 

The  first  of  these  preachers  was  Dr.  Thomas  H.  Skinner  of 
New  York,  who,  ten  years  later,  was  one  of  my  honored  in- 
structors in  Union  Theological  Seminary.  He  spoke  from  the 
text:  "By  it  (faith)  the  elders  obtained  a  good  report."  His 
theme  was  "A  Good  Name,"  in  the  sense  in  which  it  was  used 
by  the  writer  of  the  text.  Effort  and  ambition  to  obtain  this 
in  the  finest  sense  of  the  term  were  impressively  set  forth 
as  among  the  noblest  aspirations  of  which  the  human  spirit 
is  capable. 

The  next  Sunday  my  pastor,  Dr.  Bushnell,  occupied  the 
pulpit.  His  text  was  "And  He  was  .  .  .  asleep  on  a  pillow." 
The  utter  defenselessness  of  one  asleei)  was  vividly  described 
in  the  opening  sentences,  and  this  as  token  and  evidence, 
among  many  others,  of  the  veritable  humanity  of  our  Lord, 
with  whatever  limitations  this  might  involve.  The  humanity 
and  the  human  sympathy  of  Jesus  were  dwelt  upon  that  Sun- 
day sixty  years  ago,  in  a  manner  that  made  an  abiding  im- 
pression. 

The  third  Sunday  Henry  Ward  Beecher  appeared  in  the 
pulpit  of  that  modest  country  church.  It  was  within  seven 
years  of  the  opening  gun  of  the  Civil  War  at  Fort  Sumter.  I 
was  to  hear  him  again  on  the  lecture  platform  at  Andover 
Academy  before  the  war  and  at  Yale  after  the  outbreak  of 
that  struggle  and  oftener  in  his  own  pulpit.  This,  however, 
was  my  first  opportunity.  He  gave  out  the  text:  "7/  it  be 
possible,  as  much  as  lieth  in  you,  live  peaceably  with  all  men." 
The  opening  sentence  was :  "//  it  be  possible.  This  indicates 
that  it  is  not  always  possible.  Paul  himself  found  it  to  be  so." 
Then  followed  a  description  and  definition,  with  convincing 


26  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

illustrations,  of  the  disposition,  both  peaceable  and  unpeace- 
able,  of  the  genuine  follower  of  Christ. 

Andover,  1855-1858 

My  older  brother,  six  years  my  senior,  entered  Yale  in  1852. 
He  had  fitted  for  college  at  a  private  school  of  fair  repute,  in 
New  York  City,  where  he  held  a  high  rank  among  his  school- 
mates. But  in  the  effort  to  enter  and  keep  in  college  he  dis- 
covered he  had  been  very  poorly  jjrepared.  Painfully  im- 
pressed by  his  experience,  I  resolved  to  follow,  if  I  could,  in 
the  steps  of  my  father  and  uncles,  who  were  well  prepared  for 
college  at  Phillips  Academy,  Andover. 

In  the  autumn  of  1853,  in  my  brother's  Sophomore  year,  my 
father  yielded  and  took  me  to  Andover,  where  I  spent  a  term 
in  the  class  of  1856.  To  continue  in  this  class  meant  prepara- 
tion to  enter  college  before  I  was  fifteen  years  of  age.  On 
sober  second  thought  it  seemed  better  that  for  at  least  two 
years,  during  my  father's  absence  abroad,  I  should  join  my 
sisters  and  younger  brother  in  the  family  school  at  Hartford. 
Of  these  two  years  I  have  already  given  an  account.  When 
they  had  passed,  my  father  was  still  absent,  but  his  represen- 
tative, my  Uncle  Sidney,  yielded  to  my  urgency,  and  prepara- 
tion for  college  at  Andover  was  resumed  in  the  class  of  1858. 
Dr.  Samuel  H.  Taylor,  widely  known  in  and  beyond  New 
England  as  a  teacher  and  educator  of  high  rank,  had  been 
principal  of  Phillips  Academy  for  many  years,  and  was  to 
continue  his  useful  career  for  many  years  longer.  He  was 
often  called — and  enjoyed  the  title  of — "the  Doctor  Arnold  of 
New  England."  There  was,  however,  in  the  tone  and  temper 
of  his  intercourse  with  his  pupils  more  of  severity  and 
austerity  than  is  attributed  to  Dr.  Arnold.  He  was  a  teacher 
of  marked  and  shining  excellence,  though  exacting  and  severe 
as  a  disciplinarian  both  in  and  beyond  the  recitation  room. 
Among  us  boys  his  only  title  was  "Uncle  Sam." 

His  recitation  room,  to  which  only  seniors  were  admitted, 
was  known  as  "Number  Nine."  The  reports  and  traditions 
concerning  what  took  place  there  gave  it  dignity  and  pre- 
eminence beyond  all  other  rooms  in  the  Academy.  At  the 
close  of  the  disciplinary  ordeals  we  spent  in  its  awesome 
atmosphere,  Uncle  Sam  assigned  me  the  position  or  rank  of 


CHILDHOOD  27 

seventh  in  a  class  of  fifty-eight  members.  We  then  recited  in 
the  old  stone  Academy,  soon  afterward  destroyed  by  fire.  In 
later  years  as  a  graduate,  in  unawed  conversation  with  Doctor 
Taylor,  he  told  me  that  when  the  building  which  took  the  place 
of  the  stone  Academy  was  being  completed,  it  was  unalterably 
decided,  quite  outside  of  his  agency,  that  his  recitation  room, 
independently  of  where  it  should  be  located,  must  bear  the 
historic  name  of  "Number  Nine." 

Some  incidents  of  academy  life  at  Andover  may  be  worthy 
of  record.  The  football  field — can  I  ever  cease  to  cherish  the 
memory  of  it? — with  its  rough  rocks,  many  undulations,  and 
some  smooth  grassy  reaches,  was  a  joy  to  me  from  my  first 
arrival  upon  it  as  a  boy  of  twelve,  in  roundabouts,  sur- 
viving a  first  struggle  with  homesickness.  It  was  the  only 
gj-mnasium,  as  well  as  athletic  field,  provided  for  us.  I  never 
fought  in  the  multitudinous  scrimmage  into  which  the  ball 
fell  when  "raised"  by  one  of  the  best  kickers  on  his  side.  It 
was  a  proud  day  for  me  when  I  had  ascended  from  the  ranks, 
and  was  vociferously  requested  to  "raise  the  ball."  As  one 
of  "the  backs"  of  those  days,  I  skirted  the  scrimmage  for  the 
chance  to  welcome  the  ball  rolling  out  of  the  struggling  legs 
and  arms  so  that  I  could  get  it  in  front  of  me — to  pick  it  up 
was  forbidden — and  run  it  out  of  bounds  with  a  dribble  and 
a  final  victorious  kick! 

In  senior  year  a  small  group  of  us  rigged  up  near  the  board- 
ing house  where  we  lodged,  a  single  bar  on  which  we  managed 
to  do  all  manner  of  stunts.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a 
gymnasium  career  which  was  developed  in  the  use  of  better 
facilities  in  college  and  culminated,  after  many  years,  in  the 
Roberts  dumb-bell  drill  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion gymnasium. 

From  boyhood  I  was  fond  of  historical  reading.  At  home 
and  school  I  became  interested  in  heroes  of  the  Bible  and  of 
the  ancient  empires,  and  equally  in  the  stories  of  the  French 
and  Indian  Wars  and  of  the  American  Revolution. 

My  father  was  born  under  the  shadow  of  Bunker  Hill. 
Within  thirty  years  of  the  battle,  as  a  boy  he  was  accustomed 
to  show  visitors  over  that  field  of  strife.  George  Washington, 
Warren,  Israel  Putnam,  Nathaniel  Greene,  Francis  Marion, 
Commodore  Paul  Jones,  and  other  leaders  became  familiar 


28  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

names.  Botta's  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  in  a 
double  sense  was  a  ponderous  volume,  but  interest  in  the 
facts  narrated  triumphed  over  the  prosaic  style  in  which  it 
seemed  to  be  written. 

When  the  "History  of  Napoleon,"  by  John  S.  C.  Abbott, 
appeared  during  the  early  fifties,  in  successive  numbers  of 
Harper's  Neiv  Monthly  Magazine,  each  issue  was  eagerly  read. 
Hannibal  and  Caesar,  Napoleon  and  Washington  were  linked 
together  very  closely  in  the  literary  enjoyment  of  this  boyhood 
period.  Napier's  "Peninsular  War"  was  one  of  the  largest 
octavo  volumes  in  the  library  at  home,  but  it  was  read  through 
from  beginning  to  end,  and  eager  acquaintance  was  made  with 
the  career  of  Wellington  in  Spain,  only  a  few  years  after,  as  a 
boy  of  nine  I  had  seen  the  Iron  Duke,  as  an  aged  man,  on  the 
streets  of  London,  during  the  first  of  the  series  of  World's 
Industrial  Expositions. 

In  Andover,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  less  time  was  available 
for  reading.  In  vacation  periods,  Cooper's  "Indian  Tales," 
Walter  Scott's  "Poems,"  Macaulay's  "Lays  of  Ancient  Rome," 
his  "History  of  England,"  and  kindred  books  were  enjoyed. 

Literature  of  a  diftereut  class  also  had  attractions.  In 
term  time,  with  a  number  of  congenial  spirits,  I  became  a 
reader  of  the  IS^eio  York  Ledger  and  its  exciting  stories  with 
their  strong  flavor  of  melodrama.  The  serial  tales  of  a  favorite 
contributor  to  that  paper,  Sylvanus  Cobb,  Jr.,  particularly 
attracted  us.  Each  weekly  issue  left  hero  or  heroine  or  both 
in  perilous  situation,  challenging  our  sympathy  as  well  as 
our  curiosity.  The  latter  feeling  gradually  gained  the  mastery 
with  us,  owing  to  our  growing  faith  in  the  author,  and  his 
capacity  to  extricate  his  and  our  friends  from  every  peril. 
The  week  we  left  Andover  after  graduation  and  commence- 
ment, the  situation  as  described  in  the  Ledger  of  that  week 
was  very  harrowing.  For  some  forgotten  reason,  during  the 
weeks  that  followed  our  leaving  Andover  I  was  prevented 
from  buying,  as  usual,  a  copy  of  the  weekly  Ledger.  Without 
any  definite  purpose  on  my  part,  the  inclination  to  make  this 
weekly  purchase  and  to  continue  reading  the  paper  and  its 
stories  faded  away.  It  disapjieared  so  completely  and  yet  so 
unconsciously  that  it  was  a  surprise  to  myself  when  mouths 
later,  in  college  at  New  Haven,  some  circumstance  caused  me 


CHILDHOOD  29 

to  wonder  why  I  had  so  suddenly  given  up  a  course  of  reading 
so  long  continued  and  habitual. 

An  inclination  and  desire  to  become  a  minister  of  the  Gospel 
had  been  cherished  from  boyhood.  Before  leaving  Andover  I 
had  reached  a  decision  to  seek  preparation  for  this  calling. 
No  one  at  that  time  had  knowledge  of  this  except  one  of  my 
sisters.  Knowing  the  strong  desire  my  father  felt  in  this 
direction,  I  did  not  want  to  subject  him  to  the  disappointment 
he  would  experience  if  any  unforeseen  change  of  mind  should 
be  forced  upon  me  during  mj'^  college  course  of  study.  Such 
a  change  seemed  to  me  j)ossible  because  I  seriously  distrusted 
my  qualification  for  the  calling  I  had  chosen. 

Into  the  life  of  faith  and  trust  in  Jesus  Christ  I  had  been 
born,  and  guided  from  infancy  by  my  jjarents.  The  first  stej) 
in  that  life  by  my  own  initiative  was  taken  as  a  boy  of  twelve 
in  Andover  Academy  during  the  fall  term,  when  I  was  attend- 
ing regularly,  in  the  Stone  Academy,  the  weekly  prayer  meet- 
ing held  by  the  students.  It  was  after  one  of  these  meetings 
led  by  a  theological  student,  that  I  wrote  to  my  father  of  the 
serious  impression  made  upon  me,  and  my  desire  to  make 
such  a  confession  of  faith  as  his  older  children  had  made,  and 
as  I  knew  of  his  great  joy  in  their  making.  He  replied  express- 
ing his  fatherly  sympathy  and  saying  he  had  written  of  me 
to  his  own  and  his  father's  friend,  Ur.  Leonard  Woods,  still 
an  aged  resident  of  Andover,  where  forty  years  before  this 
time  he  had  been  my  father's  teacher  at  the  Seminary.  Ur. 
Woods  received  me  very  cordially  in  his  home  and  I  carried 
from  the  interview  a  copy  of  Doddridge's  "Rise  and  Progress" 
inscribed  with  his  name — a  volume  greatly  prized  for  the  sake 
of  the  giver.  From  the  reading  of  it,  I  did  not  receive  the 
benefit  which  it  was  the  design  of  both  the  giver  and  the 
author  to  convey.  Correspondence,  and  later  intercourse  with 
my  father,  and  a  little  volume  he  sent  to  me  entitled  "The 
Happy  Christian"  were  more  helpful.  But  my  Christian  life 
for  some  years  was  not  a  very  happy  one. 

On  my  return  to  Andover  two  years  later,  I  resumed  regular 
attendance  at  our  student  prayer  meetings.  My  more  intimate 
friends  were  also  in  this  fellowship.  Our  last  year  at  the 
Academy,  1857-8,  was  the  year  of  the  great  revival  of  religion 
which  prevailed  throughout  the  country.     Its  influence  was 


30  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

powerfully  felt  among  uS;  and  by  almost  all  the  members  of 
our  class. 

The  Academy  students,  as  part  of  the  exercises  of  the  school, 
attended  Sunday  morning  and  afternoon  service  in  the  chapel 
of  the  Theological  Seminary,  listening  in  turn  to  the  pro- 
fessors of  that  institution — Edwards  A.  Park,  Calvin  E. 
Stowe,  Asa  Barrows,  Stuart  Phelps,  and  W.  G.  T.  Shedd. 
During  this  season  of  revival,  Dr.  Shedd  preached  a  course 
of  sermons  on  the  text:  "What  wilt  thou  say  when  he  shall 
punish  thee  ?'"  Strong  emphasis  was  laid  upon  what  we  would 
not  say,  and  a  profound  impression  was  made  upon  the  lis- 
teners. There  was  that  in  the  style  and  manner  of  the 
preacher,  the  substance  of  his  discourse,  and  the  spirit  of  it, 
which  ever  after  made  me  eagerly  seize  any  opportunity  to 
hear  from  him  in  the  pulpit. 

During  Senior  year  at  the  Academy,  while  at  home  for  the 
autumn  vacation,  under  the  guidance  of  our  pastor.  Dr. 
William  Adams,  I  joined  the  Madison  Square  Presbyterian 
Church.  I  was  led  to  take  the  step  by  the  urgency  of  one  of 
my  Andover  classmates,  Cornelius  Kitchel,  with  whom  I  was 
attending  each  week  the  student  jjrayer  meetings.  He  was 
of  my  own  age  and  already  a  member  of  the  church  at  his 
home,  of  which  his  father  was  pastor.  When  I  did  not  tarry 
with  him  at  the  communion  service  in  the  Andover  Chapel 
he  took  me  to  task  in  a  way  so  kindly  and  persuasive  that  my 
father  was  appealed  to.  An  interview  with  Dr.  Adams  fol- 
lowed. When  I  appeared  before  the  session  of  the  church  the 
only  question  I  remember  being  asked,  was:  "When  did  you 
first  feel  conviction  of  sin?"  My  inability  to  fix  the  date  did 
not  interfere  with  a  favorable  conclusion  of  the  deliberation 
by  pastor  and  session. 


Richard  C.  Morse,  at  Sixteen 


CHAPTER  III 

COLLEGE  LIFE  AT  YALE 

1858-18G2 

Of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  students  who  at  its  begin- 
ning in  Freshman  year  were  enrolled  in  our  class  at  Yale,  the 
great  majority  were  professing  Christians,  most  of  them  being 
church  members.  As  the  years  of  college  life  passed,  there  was 
the  usual  percentage  of  loss  after  a  season  of  intense  religious 
interest.  Promptly  during  the  first  term,  according  to  a  pre- 
cedent dating  from  my  father's  period  in  college  (1808-1812), 
we  elected  class  deacons,  then  three  in  number,  to  serve  for  the 
four  years — an  election  which  later,  by  the  action  of  the  Yale 
Association,  was  wisely  postponed  to  a  later  period  in  the  life 
of  the  incoming  classes. 

What  had  led  me  to  distrust  my  qualification  for  the  minis- 
terial calling  was  the  conviction  of  a  painful  lack  of  aptitude 
and  capacity  either  as  a  writer  or  speaker.  Qualification  in 
both  these  directions  had  been  gained  by  some  of  the  class  at 
Andover  in  the  Philomathean  Literary  Society.  Such  training 
I  had  failed  to  seek  or  acquire.  Such  time  as  I  had  given  to 
study  had  been  almost  wholly  devoted  to  preparation  for  the 
class  room.  So  the  college  course  was  begun  with  the  convic- 
tion of  an  urgent  need  to  test  whether  enough  proficiency  in 
writing  and  speaking  could  be  attained  to  justify  me  in  seek- 
ing to  become  a  minister.  In  the  recitation  room,  to  take  at 
least  an  oration  stand  seemed  necessary  lest  I  should  disap- 
point my  father.  Such  a  stand  being  secured,  the  remainder 
of  my  time  I  proposed  to  give  in  the  two  directions  indicated. 
In  setting  this  goal  of  endeavor,  a  place  on  the  honor  roll  of 
speakers  at  the  evening  session  of  Junior  Exhibition,  and  in 
Senior  year  a  place  among  the  six  winners  of  Townsend 
Premiums  seemed  to  me  a  more  satisfying  achievement  than 
to  obtain  the  valedictory. 

This  somewhat  definite  ambition  was  cherished  in  Freshman 

31 


32  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

year,  and  to  this  end  I  engaged  in  every  one  cf  the  weekly 
debates  of  the  Freshman  Society  to  which  I  belonged.  At  the 
end  of  the  year,  in  spite  of  the  weariness  and  other  tribula- 
tion which  the  patient  listeners  had  endured,  they  asked  the 
persistent  debater  to  prepare  and  deliver  an  oration.  The 
fitting  theme  chosen  for  them  and  for  the  speaker  was  "Per- 
severance as  an  Element  of  Success !" 

In  all  the  competitions  of  the  first  two  years,  no  prize  was 
won.  But  the  goal  set  for  the  last  two  years  was  achieved, 
as  well  as  the  oration  rank  in  the  class  room,  which  also  had 
seemed  indispensable.  At  Andover,  according  to  the  standard 
of  marks  in  the  recitation  room,  1  had  ranked  seventh  in  a 
class  of  fifty-eight  members;  at  Yale  among  one  hundred  I 
was  number  twenty-one,  and  of  the  hundred,  twenty-one  were 
younger  than  I. 

Beginning  of  the  Civil  War 

The  national  event  of  world-wide  significance  during  our  col- 
lege course  was  the  sudden,  and  to  the  last  moment  unexpected, 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  War.  This  occurred  during  the  spring 
vacation,  in  April  of  our  Junior  year,  and  during  that  vacation 
two  of  the  class,  in  response  to  President  Lincoln's  first  call 
for  troops,  enlisted  for  three  months.  At  the  end  of  the  three 
months  both  returned  to  college  and  graduated  with  us  the 
following  year.  During  the  summer  term  of  1861,  on  the 
campus  and  elsewhere,  many  awkward  squads  of  students 
and  others  were  being  drilled,  and  the  boys  of  Russell's  Mili- 
tary School  were  at  a  premium  as  instructors.  It  was  widely  be- 
lieved among  us  that  a  particularly  awkard  squad,  composed 
of  members  of  the  faculty,  was  being  drilled  in  some  unknown 
place  by  a  boy  from  this  school.  I  did  not  hear  anyone  report 
having  actually  seen  the  drill  going  on !  Nine  members  of  the 
class,  including  four  non-graduates,  died  in  the  Civil  War — 
one  non-graduate  in  the  Confederate  Army.  Thirty-two  took 
part  as  officers  in  the  army  and  navy.  But  the  outbreak  of 
the  Civil  War  in  April,  1861,  was  not  followed  by  any  such 
excitement  among  faculty  and  students  at  Yale  as  prevailed 
in  1917  upon  the  declaration  of  war  against  Germany.  The 
magnitude  and  length  of  the  conflict  were  not  forecast.  The 
President  had  called  for  only  75,000  three  months'  men  and 


COLLEGE  LIFE  AT  YALE  33 

Secretary  Seward  was  confident  that  the  war  would  be  over 
in  ninety  days! 

Three  times  during  the  four  years  at  New  Haven,  I  listened 
to  eloquent  discourses  from  Wendell  Phillips.  In  the  autumn 
of  1859,  roused  by  the  execution  of  John  Brown,  he  gave  ad- 
dresses for  many  successive  nights,  in  different  cities,  in  en- 
thusiastic eulogy  of  the  man  whom  he  extolled  as  hero,  victim, 
and  martyr,  and  in  scorching  denunciation  of  those  whom  he 
deemed  guilty  of  his  untimely  death.  The  student  section  of 
his  audience  at  New  Haven  was  numerous,  and  our  Sophomore 
class  was  well  rej)resented.  His  voice,  owing  to  the  terrible 
strain  it  had  been  subjected  to  for  many  previous  nights,  was 
hoarse  and  harsh  at  the  beginning.  Soon  the  exciting  and 
inciting  influence  of  his  theme  removed  every  impediment  to 
the  torrent  of  his  invective  and  eloquence.  Earlier  in  our 
college  life  he  gave  his  famous  lecture  on  the  negro  patriot 
of  San  Domingo,  Toussaiut  FOuverture,  of  whom  at  the  close 
of  his  lecture  he  said : 

"You  call  me  a  fanatic  today,  for  you  see  with  your  preju- 
dices, not  with  your  eyes.  But  a  hundred  years  hence  when 
history  gets  written,  some  Tacitus  shall  arise,  shall  take 
I*hocion  for  the  Greek,  Brutus  for  the  Roman,  Hampden  for 
England,  Washington — that  bright,  consummate  flower  of 
western  civilization — for  America,  but  dipping  his  pen  in 
deeper  blue,  shall  write  in  brighter,  fairer  sunlight,  far  above 
them  all,  the  name  of  the  Warrior,  Statesman,  and  Martyr  of 
San  Domingo,  Toussaiut  FOuverture!" 

Again,  very  soon  after  Fort  Sumter  had  been  fired  upon  and 
the  Civil  War  had  begun,  Wendell  Phillips  spoke  in  New  Haven 
to  an  audience  docile  and  sympathetic  under  the  fascinating 
spell  of  his  logic  and  eloquence.  He  forecast  the  effect  of  this 
convulsion  upon  the  South,  and  depicted  the  certain  and  swift 
rise  in  those  states  of  a  negro  republic  under  the  leadership 
and  presidency  of  another  Toussaiut  FOuverture.  As  we  went 
out  into  the  night,  for  some  hours  I  believed  in  the  vision  he 
had  given,  so  vivid  was  the  impression  he  had  made  upon  at 
least  one  of  his  audience.  Not  many  days  after,  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  came  to  New  Haven  to  speak  on  the  national  crisis. 
From  some  sheets  of  paper  on  the  desk  in  front  of  him  he  read 
part  of  what  he  had  to  say.    As  he  talked  most  earnestly  about 


34  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

the  lessons  of  the  hour,  he  described  vividly  what  a  terrible, 
oppressive  burden  slavery  had  proved  upon  the  South.  Then, 
rolling  up  the  sheets  of  paper  in  front  of  him,  and  holding  the 
roll  in  his  right  hand,  he  left  the  speaker's  stand,  and,  coming 
toward  us  to  the  edge  of  the  platform,  described  in  his  inimit- 
able manner  how  South  Carolina  and  her  sister  states  had 
been  pushed  downward  as  on  an  inclined  plane  under  a 
burden  too  heavy  to  be  borne.  Now  in  the  providence  of  God 
they  had  come  to  the  end  of  their  descent.  Relieved  of  their 
burden,  their  steady  ascent  was  sure,  to  the  levels  of  oppor- 
tunity, privilege,  and  resources  enjoyed  by  the  free  states,  in 
an  indissoluble  union.  With  this  apparently  spontaneous  out- 
burst of  passionate  eloquence  he  sent  us  away  with  optimistic 
and  patriotic  convictions  which  tarried  with  us,  and  in  the 
outcome  of  which  we  were  not  disappointed. 

In  the  interval  between  the  two  lectures  from  Wendell 
Phillips  I  heard  another  speaker — afterward  of  greater  fame 
than  any  other  I  ever  listened  to — Abraham  Lincoln.  He  came 
to  New  Haven  in  the  spring  of  our  Sophomore  year  (1860),  to 
take  part  as  a  campaign  speaker  on  the  eve  of  a  closely  con- 
tested election  in  the  State  of  Connecticut.  At  the  time  we 
were  listening  to  him,  it  was  wholly  unsuspected  that  before 
the  end  of  that  year  he  would  be  nominated  and  elected  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  that  in  that  high  office — as  all 
the  world  now  knows — he  would  so  serve  his  country  as  to  be 
ranked  deservedly  with  George  Washington.  We  eagerly 
went  to  hear  him  because  of  the  remarkable  record  he  had  made 
two  years  before  in  his  joint  debate  with  Stephen  Douglas  in 
Illinois.  Also  much  more  recently  (February,  1860),  he  had 
made  a  very  acceptable  address  to  a  New  York  audience  in 
Cooper  Institute — an  address  to  which  the  years  have  added 
appreciation  and  reputation.  Of  this  long  political  campaign 
through  which  he  was  then  passing  and  which  resulted  in  his 
election,  one  of  his  biographers  forcibly  says:  "During  this 
whole  period  (1858-1860)  every  dweller  in  the  United  States 
was  hotly  concerned  about  the  absorbing  question  of  slavery. 
Lincoln's  condensed  speeches  of  the  period  may  be  likened  to  an 
anti-slavery  gospel,  containing  the  whole  basis  of  the  anti- 
slavery  cause  as  maintained  by  the  Republican  party  and  it  is 
worth  noticing  that  both  Lincoln  and  Douglas  in  their  joint 


COLLEGE  LIFE  AT  YALE  35 

debate  confined  their  disputation  closely  to  the  slavery  ques- 
tion."^ Certainly  this  was  the  burden  and  emphasis  of  the  cam- 
paign speech  with  which  he  fastened  the  attention  of  his 
audience  in  New  Haven.  Only  a  few  months  before  we  had 
been  stirred  by  the  hot  and  eloquent  words  of  Wendell  Phillips 
about  John  Brown.  Now  we  listened  to  a  piece  of  calm,  strong, 
convincing  reasoning,  lightened  and  clarified  by  pertinent  anec- 
dotes. One  of  these  was  the  story  of  two  heated  disputants,  of 
whom  one  was  contending  that  the  Bible,  especially  the  New 
Testament,  severely  condemned  slavery.  Challenged  for  his  au- 
thority, he  opened  the  book  and  pointed  to  the  passage  condemn- 
ing menstealers.  When  the  other  retorted  he  could  not  see  the 
force  of  this  citation,  his  opponent  produced  a  gold  coin  and 
placing  it  on  the  open  page  over  the  quoted  word,  asked :  'Woto 
do  you  see  it?"  Both  in  reason  and  in  scripture,  said  the 
speaker,  is  seen  the  inherent  wrong  of  slavery,  making  its 
growth  or  permanent  existence  intolerable  in  a  union  of  states 
where  genuine  liberty  must  be  constitutionally  guaranteed. 
Such  a  union  could  not  continue  permanently  half  slave  and 
half  free.  This  was  the  proposition  which  Lincoln  maintained 
with  a  relentless  logic  and  with  a  sagacious  forecast  which 
the  event  abundantly  justified. 

To  Lincoln  himself  during  this  tour  a  New  England  clergy- 
man said :  "In  hearing  you  last  evening,  I  learned  more  of  the 
art  of  public  speaking  than  I  could  from  a  whole  course  of 
lectures  on  rhetoric."  He  was  also  told  that  at  New  Haven  a 
Yale  professor  came  to  hear  him,  took  notes  of  the  speech,  and 
gave  a  lecture  to  his  class  upon  it  the  following  day.  To  the 
coming  President  this  seemed  very  extraordinary.  His  own 
modest  comment  on  the  tour  was:  "Certainly  I  have  had  a 
most  wonderful  success  for  one  of  my  limited  education."^ 

Athletic  and  Other  Interests 

The  physical  training  begun  at  Andover  I  was  ambitious  to 
continue  in  college.  At  that  time  the  only  college  gymnasium 
was  a  small  barn-like  house  of  one  story  on  High  Street  behind 
the  campus.  It  had  one  floor,  level  with  the  street.  In  it  were 
some  dumb-bells — one  of  thirty,  another  of  forty-five,  and  a 


1  John  T.  Morse,  Jr.,  "Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  Vol.  I.,  pp.  156-157. 

2  "The  Everyday  Life  of  Lincoln,"  pp.  222,  223. 


36  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

third  of  eighty  pounds,  also  a  single  bar  and  parallel  bars  and 
a  few  other  pieces  of  equipment. 

Here  those  of  us  who  were  interested  came  each  noon  in  the 
autumn  of  1858.  The  hero  of  the  place  was  the  strong  man 
of  the  class  of  '59,  who  could  put  up  the  eighty  pound  dumb- 
bell with  one  of  twenty  pounds  attached  to  it.  This  was  Bob 
Stiles,  afterward  De  Forest  medal  man,  and  then  as  a  gradu- 
ate, Major  Robert  Stiles  of  the  Confederate  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia.  No  other  class  ever  seemed  to  me  to  attain  unto 
genuine  Senior  dignity  as  did  '59  in  the  persons  of  Eugene 
Smith,  its  valedictorian;  Ed,  Carrington,  class  orator;  Joe 
Twichell,  and  other  equally  venerated  characters.  The  men  of 
'60  were  always  Juniors  and  '61  was  only  and  always  a  Sopho- 
more class.  Of  course,  '62  was  an  exception  to  all  others.  It 
stood  in  a  realm  by  itself. 

To  put  up  that  eighty  pound  dumb-bell  was  my  first  ambition 
in  the  gymnasium.  A  Junior  was  the  hero  of  the  single  bar. 
On  it  he  could  do  the  Giant  Swing.  This  was  my  second 
ambition.  At  the  end  of  the  first  term,  Freshman  year,  I 
attained  unto  the  forty-five  pound  dumb-bell,  in  the  second 
term  to  the  Giant  Swing,  and  during  the  strenuous  third  term 
the  eighty  pound  dumb-bell  yielded  to  treatment  by  my  mus- 
cular right  arm. 

In  our  Sophomore  year  the  new  gymnasium  was  erected  on 
Library  Street,  and  opened  in  1859  or  '60.  Six  or  eight  bowling 
alleys  were  introduced  on  the  ground  floor.  It  was  at  that 
time  a  remarkable  iuuovation,  for  the  bowling  alley  was  so 
intimately  associated  with  the  drinking  saloon  that  it  was 
widely  under  the  ban  of  that  churchly  public  opinion  which 
is  often,  but  not  always,  entitled  to  first  consideration.  In 
point  of  fact,  a  long  step  in  advance  was  being  taken  by  a 
Christian  college  of  the  first  rank  toward  that  later,  larger, 
and  wiser  provision  for  physical  training,  in  the  fuller  develop- 
ment of  which  throughout  the  country  and  the  world  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was  to  lend  a  hand — a 
hand  strong,  virile,  trained,  and  efficient.  At  once  upon  the 
opening  of  the  gymnasium  four  students  were  to  be  found  un- 
interruptedly on  each  alley — two  to  bowl  and  two  set  up  pins 
— from  8  A.  M.  when  the  alleys  were  opened  for  use,  until 
10  p.  M.  when  the  place  was  closed  for  the  night.     This  in- 


COLLEGE  LIFE  AT  YALE  37 

eluded  recitation  hours,  during  some  of  which  the  entire 
student  bodj'  had  been  sunnnoned  to  the  class  room !  Exactly 
how  long  this  craze  lasted  I  cannot  recollect,  but  for  enough 
days  to  tax  severely  the  patience  of  the  college  faculty.  It 
has  seemed  to  me  greatly  to  the  credit  of  that  group  of 
teachers  that  they  refrained  from  enforcing  regulations  and 
prohibitions,  but  allowed  the  craze  to  wear  itself  out.  For 
in  time,  without  any  action  by  them  that  I  can  recall,  the 
alleys  were  deserted  at  the  hours  of  recitation,  and  then  at 
other  hours,  until,  as  the  years  went  by,  their  number  was 
reduced  because  the  supply  was  greater  than  the  demand. 

I  frequented  the  gymnasium  in  Sophomore  as  much  as  in 
Freshman  year,  and  in  the  summer  joined  one  of  the  class 
boating  clubs,  "The  Thulia,"  and  was  chosen  a  member  of  the 
crew  which  was  to  row  that  summer,  against  a  corresponding 
class  crew  of  Harvard,  on  Lake  Quinsigamond  near  Worcester. 
We  had  no  instructor  or  trainer,  either  in  the  gymnasium  or 
on  the  water,  and  ignorantly  prescribed  for  ourselves  a  too 
rigorous  training.  Each  morning,  Sundays  excepted,  before  a 
sponge  bath  and  breakfast,  we  ran  from  the  old  Brick  Eow  a 
mile  and  a  half  and  return,  along  College  Street  and  Tutor's 
Lane — now  known  as  Prospect  Street.  Later  in  the  day,  be- 
tween recitations,  the  thirty  pound  dumb-bell  was  put  up  two 
hundred  times  by  all  the  crew  in  concert,  as  a  preliminary  to 
pulling  the  rowing  weights  and  other  more  voluntary  feats. 
Of  the  latter,  my  own  favorite  was  a  lively,  if  somewhat  vio- 
lent, handswing  on  the  two  iron  rings  suspended  from  the 
ceiling! 

When  the  recitations  for  the  day  were  over,  we  walked  to 
the  boat  house  and  rowed  over  the  course  in  the  harbor.  Our 
period  of  training  began  with  the  summer  term  in  May,  and 
continued  with  unabated  vigor  until  our  struggle  with  Harvard 
in  Jul3\  I  began  the  season  as  a  member  of  the  second  Thulia 
crew,  but  was  transferred  to  the  first  crew  about  the  middle 
of  the  summer.  In  its  first  race  the  crew  won  the  college 
championship  in  a  struggle  with  the  Junior  class  ('61)  crew. 
On  the  fourth  of  July  we  went  to  Providence  with  the  'Varsity 
crew,  and  rowed  in  a  regatta  with  several  other  crews,  winning 
the  second  prize,  the  'Varsity  taking  the  first.  The  class  was 
then  enduring  the  dreaded  two  weeks  of  biennial  examinations 


38  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

at  the  close  of  its  Sophomore  year.  One  of  the  six  difficult 
written  examinations  of  this  period  began  on  the  morning  of 
July  5th,  one  hour  before  we  could  reach  New  Haven  after  the 
race.  The  authorities  consented  to  our  loss  of  this  hour.  We 
submitted  with  a  cheerfulness  which  increased  after  we  had 
won  the  coveted  prize.  As  we  entered  Alumni  Hall  an  hour 
late,  we  were  greeted  with  applause.  It  was  the  only  applause 
the  class  ever  listened  to  or  was  guilty  of  during  the  solemn 
hours  of  the  biennial  and  other  examinations  which  we  endured 
in  that  hall  of  ordeals. 

Our  struggle  with  Harvard  ended  in  defeat,  and  somewhat 
ingloriously,  for,  owing  less  to  our  folly  than  to  our  dietary 
ignorance,  by  a  ridiculous  mistake  at  the  training  table,  per- 
petrated after  we  had  reached  Worcester,  we  so  radically  dis- 
abled one  of  the  crew  by  a  perverse  diet,  that  before  we  had 
rowed  half  the  course  he  was  unable  to  continue  at  his  oar,  and 
after  turning  the  stake  boat  we  could  not  complete  our  return 
to  the  starting  point.  The  disappointment  of  our  classmates 
and  friends  was  keen  enough,  but  could  not  compare  with  the 
years-long  duration  of  our  own ! 

In  the  autumn,  however,  some  solace  was  granted  us  in  an- 
other struggle  for  the  college  championship  with  our  former 
competitors.  We  were  again  victorious  and  held  the  flag  till 
the  close  of  our  college  course.  My  only  experience  of  regular 
training  was  during  that  strenuous  summer  of  Sophomore 
year.  At  commencement  time  in  1862,  the  ranking  mark  re- 
ceived for  each  term  was  accessible,  and  with  surprise  I  learned 
that  during  this  summer,  most  occupied  with  special  extra- 
curriculum  work,  my  stand  in  class  was  higher  than  in  any 
previous  term. 

Some  reading  was  accomplished  at  college,  especially  of  his- 
tory, and  of  novels  of  the  superior  sort,  including  all  of  George 
Eliot.  In  poetry,  special  emphasis  was  given  to  Tennyson.  My 
choice  of  a  theme  for  Junior  Exhibition  was  "Prescott  as  a 
Historian."  It  was  suggested  by  reading  both  his  and  Motley's 
historical  works  and  becoming  particularly  interested  in  a  com- 
parison of  the  excellences  of  these  two  eminent  writers  of 
history.  The  theme  chosen  for  Commencement,  in  the  heat 
of  the  Civil  War,  was  "The  Mission  of  Calamity  to  the  State." 
Our  class  in  Yale  graduated  early  in  the  second  year  of  the  war, 


COLLEGE  LIFE  AT  YALE  39 

soon  after  McClellau's  campaign  on  the  Peninsula,  and  before 
the  battle  of  Antietam.  At  this  time  I  suffered  one  of  the  most 
serious  disappointments  of  my  life  in  being  prevented  from 
enlisting  in  the  Union  Army.  That  I  was  providentially  hin- 
dered from  following  this  strong  desire  and  determination,  I 
have  been  slowly  led  to  believe,  with  a  final  conviction  which 
for  many  years  seemed  to  me  impossible. 

To  our  Commencement  Exercises  my  father  came,  not  only 
on  my  account,  but  also  to  attend  as  a  graduate  of  the  class 
of  1812,  his  fiftieth  or  Jubilee  Year  class  meeting.  As  we 
walked  over  the  campus  together  he  pointed  out  to  me  the 
buildings  placed  upon  it  during  the  half-century  then  closing. 
Their  number  and  dimensions  seemed  impressive,  but  of  course 
were  not  to  be  compared  to  the  number  added  and  to  be  counted 
when  fifty  years  afterward,  in  1912,  the  survivors  of  our  class 
met  at  their  Jubilee  and  I  completed  there  the  century  of 
graduate  life  accomplished  within  the  united  lives  of  my 
father  and  his  son. 

During  the  college  course  the  purpose  to  study  for  the 
ministry  was  definitely  settled  with  my  father's  hearty  sym- 
pathy and  approval.  My  religious  faith  and  life  had  gradually 
obtained  stronger  anchorage.  As  a  teacher  I  served  in  one  of 
the  mission  schools  of  New  Haven,  of  which  the  superintendent 
was  Daniel  C.  Gilman,  then  Yale  Librarian,  and  afterward  an 
educator  of  steadily  growing  distinction,  connected  at  first 
with  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School  at  Yale,  then  with  the  Uni- 
versity of  California,  and  preeminently  with  Johns  Hopkins 
University  as  organizer  and  first  President. 

I  was  also  one  of  the  group  in  our  class  who  attended  and 
were  benefited  by  the  class  prayer  meetings  under  the  manage- 
ment of  the  three  deacons.  During  our  course  the  college  pas- 
tor. Dr.  George  P.  Fisher,  resigned  to  undertake  with  scholarly 
distinction  the  professorship  of  Church  History  in  the  Divinity 
School.  In  the  period  intervening  between  his  pastorate  and 
that  of  his  successor,  President  Theodore  Dwight  Woolsey  more 
often  than  any  one  else  filled  the  pulpit,  very  acceptably  to 
us  students.  During  my  vacation  I  listened  most  frequently 
at  Sunday  services  to  our  pastor  at  home,  Dr.  William  Adams 
— pastor  for  forty  years  of  the  Madison  Square  Presbyterian 
Church — and  enjoyed  opportunities  of  hearing  Henry  Ward 


40  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Beecher,  Dr.  Richard  S.  Storrs,  Dr.  Stephen  H.  Tyng,  Dr.  W. 
G.  T.  Shedd,  and  otlier  men  of  strong  leadership  in  the  pulpit. 

Owing  to  these  favoring  influences  within  the  class,  the  col- 
lege, and  the  church,  my  religious  faith  became  stronger  and 
more  intelligent,  and  my  religious  life  somewhat  less  unsatis- 
factory. For  whatever  genuine  progress  was  made  in  this 
direction  I  was  deeply  indebted  to  the  happy  friendships  begun 
at  Andover,  and  to  those  formed  with  other  congenial  class- 
mates, especially  with  my  roommate  Henry  Stebbins.  From 
the  inner  circle  already  named  in  this  narrative,  I  received 
spiritual  impulse.  In  the  growing  intimacies  of  our  college 
life,  we  confirmed  one  another  in  our  vocational  choice,  and  in 
the  obligations  and  the  privileges  of  the  calling  for  which  we 
were  seeking  preparation  and  qualification. 

The  four  years  at  college  were  an  elect  period,  full  of  helpful 
incidents  and  influences.  The  disappointments  in  my  case  far 
exceeded  in  number  the  successes.  Though  more  numerous, 
and  extending  to  the  end  of  the  course,  they  did  not  prove  dis- 
couraging to  strenuous  endeavor.  On  the  contrary,  they  were 
a  discipline  more  severe  and  refining  than  that  of  the  class 
room.  They  intensified  the  gratification  yielded  by  such  suc- 
cess as  was  in  the  end  secured.  But  what  was  far  more  im- 
portant, they  pointed  out  the  only  path  to  the  success  of 
future  years,  and  gave  qualification  to  tread  that  path.  Some 
years  after  we  had  graduated,  one  of  the  leading  and  more 
mature  of  my  classmates  said  to  a  member  of  our  family  whom 
he  met  that  in  his  opinion  I  had  improved  the  opportunities 
for  self-improvement  presented  during  the  course  to  better 
purpose  than  any  other  member  of  the  class.  But  no  vote  on 
this  subject  was  ever  taken  at  any  of  our  class  meetings ! 

Members  of  the  Class  op  1862 

Of  my  classmates  and  fellow  students  at  Andover  Academy 
twenty-four  entered,  and  seventeen  graduated  at  Yale  in  the 
class  of  '62.  As  Freshmen  we  numbered  one  hundred  and 
thirty-four.  Some  twenty  joined  us  during  the  four  years.  But 
many  more  than  twenty  disappeared  and  in  the  permanent 
catalogue  we  number  for  all  time  exactly  one  hundred. 

Twent}^  were  on  their  way  to  join  the  clergy — the  path  I 
also    was    pursuing.      Twenty-six    became    lawyers,    twenty- 


COLLEGE  LIFE  AT  YALE  41 

four  entered  business  life,  eight  were  teachers,  six  tarried  in 
the  Army  and  Navy,  and  five  have  been  active  in  the  realm 
of  literature.  Among  those  seeking  to  become  clergymen  1 
had  begun  at  Andover  to  find  companions  and  friends.  Two 
of  this  number  were  our  valedictorian  and  third  scholar  at 
both  Academy  and  College — John  Phelps  Taylor,  for  many 
years  professor  in  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  and  Cor- 
nelius Ladd  Kitchel,  afterward  scholarly  tutor  and  instructor 
at  Yale.  The  companionship  begun  as  boys  became  friendship 
in  college  and  yielded  us  life-long  fellowship,  as  we  came  in 
touch  for  fifty  years  and  more  at  many  class  meetings  and 
elsewhere.  This  has  been  true  with  peculiar  emphasis  in 
relation  to  my  roommate  for  the  last  two  years  at  Yale,  Henry 
H.  Stebbins.  For  another  two  years  as  theological  students 
we  roomed  together.  Later  in  life  we  married  sisters  and  our 
homes  continued  in  easy  reach  of  one  another  while  he  became 
in  succession  pastor  and  leading  citizen  at  Riverdale,  Oswego, 
and  Rochester,  New  York. 

Another  in  this  group  of  scholarly  rank  was  Henry  S.  Bar- 
num,  for  forty-eight  years  in  the  Turkish  Empire  at  Harpoot, 
Van,  and  Constantinople.  In  command  of  both  the  Armenian 
and  Turkish  languages,  he  rendered  lifelong  service  as  a  mis- 
sionarj^  of  fine  qualifications  and  patient  fidelity.  The  out- 
break of  the  present  world  war  in  1914  led  to  his  return  home 
in  the  forty-eighth  year  of  his  missionary  labors.  In  a  con- 
versation with  him  a  few  weeks  before  his  death,  his  life  work 
on  behalf  of  the  Armenian  people  and  the  terrible  ordeal 
threatening  extermination  through  which  that  people  were 
passing  were  referred  to.  He  replied :  "My  hope  and  faith 
concerning  them  may  be  summarized  in  two  words,  *God 
reigns.' " 

An  intimate  Andover  friend,  James  H.  Crosby — not  in  our 
class  there — joined  us  at  Yale  where  our  friendship  gained  a 
strong  anchorage.  For  most  of  our  graduate  life — as  a  most 
faithful  class  secretary — he  has  become  a  valued  friend  of 
every  one  of  his  classmates. 

Edward  Benton  Coe,  fifth  in  rank  as  a  scholar,  was  a  pro- 
fessor at  Yale  for  twelve  years  and  then  until  his  death,  in 
1914,  was  one  of  the  pastors  of  the  Collegiate  Reformed  Church, 
of  New  York  City.    During  his  later  and  what  his  associates 


42  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

thought  his  best  years,  he  became  the  Senior — really  the  Dean 
or  Bishop — of  that  group  of  influential  clergy  and  churches. 

After  twenty  years  of  excellent  work  as  pastor,  Charles  B. 
Sumner  in  1888  founded,  and  has  since  continued  so  identified 
with  the  growth  into  high  rank  of  Pomona  College,  California, 
that  many  of  his  best  friends  hope  the  name  it  bears  may  be 
changed  to  Sumner  College. 

During  fifty  years  and  more,  one  of  the  most  retiring  mem- 
bers of  the  class,  Arthur  Goodenough,  has  lived  the  exemplary 
life  of  a  village  pastor  of  sterling  worth  and  character.  Early 
in  our  graduate  life  he  became  known  to  all  of  us  as  father  of 
the  class  boy,  who  in  due  season  graduated  in  the  class  of  1887. 

The  only  member  of  the  class  from  Canada,  Elisha  Stiles 
Lyman,  was  also  a  member  of  our  championship  class  crew, 
and  during  Senior  year,  Commodore  of  the  Yale  Navy.  Some 
years  after  graduation  he  joined  the  ranks  of  the  clergy  for  a 
season  and  then  during  many  years  until  his  death  in  1907, 
became  a  member  of  the  Plymouth  Brethren  and  was  a  faith- 
ful, conscientious,  and  devotedly  active  leader  among  them. 

Among  the  twenty-six  classmates  who  became  lawyers  were 
friends  for  life  whom  I  began  to  know  at  Andover.  One  of 
these  was  my  roommate  for  a  year  at  college,  Frederic  Adams. 
From  the  beginning  he  was  known  among  us  as  "The  Judge" 
and  has  abundantly  justified  this  title  and  our  exalted  opinion 
of  him  by  occupying  for  many  years  and  still  retaining  (1916) 
with  growing  credit  a  seat  as  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of 
New  Jersey. 

Melville  Cox  Day,  another  Andover  boy,  after  making  honor- 
able record  as  a  lawyer  in  St.  Louis  and  New  York,  in  his 
later  years  and  by  bequest  in  his  will  became  widely  known 
as  the  donor  to  Andover  Academy  of  larger  endowment  than 
has  come  to  that  venerable  institution  from  any  one  of  its  many 
benefactors.  Eminent  among  graduate  donors  to  Y^'ale  was 
another  classmate,  William  Lampson,  who  was  both  lawyer 
and  banker.  Buchanan  Winthrop  was  a  scholar  of  rank  among 
us  and  the  only  classmate  elected  and  reelected  as  a  member 
of  the  Yale  Corporation  and  active  upon  its  Prudential  Com- 
mittee. A  fund  bearing  his  father's  name  is  one  of  the  tokens 
of  his  interest  in  the  University.  He  also  became  a  leading 
churchman  and  for  many  years  served  as  Treasurer  of  the 


COLLEGE  LIFE  AT  YALE  43 

Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  oue  of  the  two  highest  offices 
accorded  to  laymen  in  that  communion. 

John  Wesley  Ailing,  second  scholar  in  the  class,  has  lived 
his  graduate  life  in  New  Haven  as  one  of  its  lawyers  and  citi- 
zens of  fine  repute  and  honorable  achievement. 

The  fourth  scholar  of  the  class,  and  the  winner  of  the  De 
Forest  Gold  Medal  as  leading  speaker  and  writer,  we  chose  as 
our  class  orator,  Daniel  Henry  Chamberlain.  He  served  with 
honor  as  an  officer  in  a  negro  regiment  during  the  Civil  War. 
In  the  difficult  reconstruction  period  at  the  South  he  was  one 
of  the  f  ramers  of  the  new  State  Constitution  of  South  Carolina. 
Under  it  he  was  elected  Attorney  General  and  then  Governor. 
Of  him  as  Governor  during  that  troubled  period  so  difficult 
for  a  northern  man  to  live  through  creditably  at  the  South, 
it  was  said  by  leaders  of  the  party  who  had  opposed  his  elec- 
tion, "Governor  Chamberlain  richly  deserves  the  confidence  of 
the  people  of  this  state.'-  The  trustworthy  historian  James 
Ford  Rhodes  adds^ :  "He  began  the  redemption  of  South  Caro- 
lina ;  it  was  completed  under  Democratic  auspices."  At  the 
close  of  this  period  (1876)  until  his  death  in  1907,  he  accom- 
plished a  useful  career  as  a  member  of  his  profession  and  as 
a  public-spirited  citizen  of  exceptional  ability. 

Albert  Francis  Judd,  one  of  our  two  members  from  the 
Hawaiian  Islands,  returned  to  his  home  to  become  in  due 
time  Attorney  General  and  then  Chief  Justice  of  the  Islands, 
honored  and  beloved  until  his  death  in  1900.  To  the  Yale  Com- 
mencement of  1897  he  came  with  his  wife,  to  be  present  at  the 
graduation  of  the  two  eldest  of  his  seven  sons  and  also  to 
attend  the  thirty-fifth  year  meeting  of  his  class. 

A  poet  was  graciously  granted  to  the  class  in  the  person 
of  one  who  first  joined  the  ranks  of  the  lawyers.  He  tarried 
too  few  years  with  us  to  fulfil  the  bright  promise  of  his  youth 
and'  early  manhood.  But  Robert  Kelley  Weeks  lived  long 
enough  to  endear  himself  to  the  choice  group  of  friends  who 
discerned  the  fine  quality  of  his  mind  and  character.  One  of 
the  class,  himself  a  literary  critic  of  excellence,  said  of  this 
friend :  "He  nourished  an  authentic  spark  of  the  poet's  flame." 
Another  critic,  more  widely  known,  Richard  Henry  Stoddard, 
selects  one  of  Weeks's  poems,  a  brief  little  ballad  entitled  "A 

3  J.  F.  Rhodes,  "History  of  the  United  States,"  Vol.  VII.,  pp.  164-167. 


44  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Song  of  Lexington"  as  "the  truest  measure  of  what  his  powers 
would  have  been  if  he  had  not  been  cut  off  in  his  early  prime," 
and  adds :  "If  any  battlefield  of  Revolutionary  fame  has  given 
rise  to  better  writing  than  his  we  have  yet  to  see  it.  That 
ballad,  if  nothing  else,  has  placed  Mr.  Weeks  permanently 
among  the  poets  of  America."  This  verdict  by  one  himself  a 
poet  was  confirmed  years  afterward  by  another  member  of  the 
clan,  Edmund  Clarence  Stedman,  when  he  placed  in  his  elect 
collection,  "An  American  Anthology,"  the  above  mentioned 
poem  and  two  others  by  one  who  was  his  junior  at  Yale  as 
well  as  in  the  republic  of  letters. 

The  youngest  member  of  the  class,  Joseph  F.  Randolph,  has 
added,  according  to  his  own  confession :  "Nine  volumes — say 
eight  thousand  pages — to  the  world's  burden  of  books"  and 
— as  may  be  said  with  equal  truth— he  has  thus  supplied  to 
his  fellow  workers  in  the  law,  tools  of  standard,  trustworthy 
quality.  In  the  department  of  Bible  interpretation  he  has  also 
prepared  and  published  an  admirable  treatise  on  "The  Law 
of  Faith." 

Henry  Holt,  our  class  jioet,  became  publisher  and  later 
author,  though  not  in  the  realm  of  poetry.  As  head  of  the 
publishing  house  bearing  his  name,  he  has  made  that  name 
widelj'  and  well  known  in  the  world  of  good  literature. 

Franklin  MacVeagh,  founder  and  head  of  the  business  house 
in  Chicago  bearing  his  name,  has  been  widely  known  as  a  public 
spirited  citizen,  identified  with  the  promotion  of  civic  reform 
in  his  own  city  of  Chicago  and  on  the  national  arena  in  the 
cabinet  of  President  Taft  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

Pierce  N.  Welch  became  a  business  man  and  banker  of  fine 
reputation  in  New  Haven,  "a  man  of  grave  spirit,  of  ruling 
conscience,  of  few  words,  wise,  the  soul  of  industry,  'fervent 
in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord.'  "  A  commodious  dormitory  on 
the  Yale  campus  bears  enduring  testimony  to  a  generous  affec- 
tion for  his  University. 

Among  the  eleven  classmates  who  graduated  with  credit  into 
the  medical  profession  was  William  Wallace  Seel}".  We  were 
friends  at  Andover  and  Yale  and  rowed  together  on  our  cham- 
pionship crew.  He  attained  eminence  as  a  physician  in  Cin- 
cinnati, served  acceptably  as  professor  and  Dean  in  the  medical 
college  of  that  city,  and  also  as  professor  at  Dartmouth. 


COLLEGE  LIFE  AT  YALE  46 

Of  similar  repute  in  New  York  City,  Francke  H.  Bosworth 
has  been  eminent  as  both  professor  and  practitioner.  With 
these  and  three  other  medical  classmates  Roger  S.  Tracy, 
Arnold  W.  Catlin,  and  Robert  F,  Chapman,  who  found  homes 
and  accomplished  fine  careers  in  the  great  metropolis,  I  have 
enjoyed  fellowship. 

Frederick  Irving  Knight  was  another  classmate  eminent  as 
a  physician  in  Boston,  instructor  at  Harvard,  and  prominently 
connected  with  the  journalism  of  his  profession  and  with  hos- 
pital service  and  administration. 

George  M.  Beard,  of  our  Andover  group,  died  at  the  early 
age  of  forty-three  in  the  midst  of  a  busy,  industrious  life  full 
of  the  promise  of  remarkable  achievement  in  the  medical  uses 
of  electricit}^  and  in  other  lines  of  professional  research. 

Of  classmates  who  wrought  eftectively  as  teachers,  two  ren- 
dered rare  service  to  the  deaf  and  dumb :  Edward  C.  Stone,  in 
Hartford,  Connecticut,  and  Charles  W.  Ely,  in  Frederick,  Mary- 
land. In  the  latter  city  on  one  Sunday  I  was  Ely's  guest  and 
recall  vividly  an  address  he  desired  me  to  make  to  his  pupils, 
with  himself  as  necessary  interpreter  in  the  sign-language. 
Both  these  teachers  were  for  many  years  principals  and  super- 
intendents of  the  large  institutions  they  served,  and  their 
names  have  a  place  of  honor  among  those  who  have  devoted 
their  lives  to  the  welfare  of  the  deaf  and  dumb. 

Henry  P.  Johnston,  second  stroke  of  our  championship  crew, 
after  serving  with  distinction  on  the  signal  corps  of  the  Union 
Army  throughout  the  Civil  War,  has  been  for  over  thirty  years 
and  beyond  the  limit  of  three  score  and  ten  Professor  of  His- 
tory in  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York.  He  is  the  author 
of  several  scholarly  volumes  upon  incidents  and  characters  in 
American  history. 

Among  our  scholars  of  high  rank  was  Grosveuor  S.  Starr, 
who  was  also  the  stroke  oar  of  our  championship  crew.  He 
did  not  graduate  because  of  his  conscientious  ardor  to  reach 
the  front  speedily  as  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  War.  He  enlisted 
as  an  adjutant  in  one  of  the  Connecticut  regiments.  On  the 
campus  in  front  of  the  old  Brick  Row,  Franklin  MacVeagh  in 
the  name  of  the  class,  presented  him  with  a  sword.  Before  we 
graduated  he  had  laid  down  his  life  in  the  service  of  his 
country. 


46  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

The  Yale  graduate  custom  of  holding  class  meetings  at  Com- 
mencement in  the  third  and  sixth  and  tenth  year  after  gradu- 
ation, and  then  every  fifth  year  until  the  fiftieth  and  beyond, 
fosters  other  meetings  in  the  intervals,  outside  of  New  Haven, 
and  especially  in  New  York  City.  Since  our  graduation,  in 
response  to  more  than  twenty  such  calls,  as  many  of  us  as  could 
have  in  each  instance  come  together  in  New  Haven  and  in  New 
York,  thus  endeavoring  to  make  lifelong  the  fellowship  begun 
in  school  and  college. 

It  was  the  beginning  of  these  friendships  which  gave  to  the 
days  and  years  of  life  in  college  its  principal  charm,  enthroning 
it  in  memory  as  a  halcyon  period.  What  one  learned  of  the 
fine  art  of  making  and  fostering  friendship  was  of  priceless 
value  in  after  life.  Associated  with  this  was  a  fellowship 
with  our  instructors  less  intimate,  but  equally  lifelong  in 
benefit  realized.  Preeminent  among  them  was  President 
Theodore  Dwight  Woolsey.  Also  commanding  our  respect  and 
confidence  were  Professors  Noah  H.  Porter,  James  H.  Hadley, 
Thomas  Thacher,  George  P.  Fisher,  James  D.  Dana,  Elias 
Loomis,  and  Timothy  Dwight. 

One  of  the  class  when  past  seventy  years  of  age  writes: 

''What  a  nursery  of  friendship  college  life  was  in  our  day. 

What  wonder  that  the  precious  plant  grew  mightily  and  bore 

fruit."    One  ripe  fruit  of  this  precious  plant  came  to  me  in  the 

fifty-fifth  year  after  our  graduation  in   the  following  letter 

from  a  classmate,  written  upon  the  death  of  my  wife : 

,,     ^         T,  April  19,  1917. 

My  Dear  Richard,  '  ' 

"I  have  just  seen  the  notice  about  Mrs.  Morse.  She  goes 
before  you,  perhaps  to  help  prepare  the  Lord's  new  dwelling 
for  both  of  you  and  it  cannot  be  as  long  before  as  it  has  been 
with  me.  She  was  a  charming  woman  and  you  will  miss  her 
dreadfully  but  you  will  soon  be  glad  (as  I  was)  that  you  were 
not  taken  away  from  her  and  that  she  is  entering  on  the  joy 
of  Christ's  presence  rather  than  into  the  desolation  of  widow- 
hood. This  going  into  life — the  life  beyond,  one  by  one,  is  in 
God's  wisdom  and  mere}',  but  it  seems  to  us  to  make  all  the 
bitterness  of  this  experience.  That  you  may  find  some  new 
fellowship  in  Christ  Himself  is  more  than  possible.  Why 
should  it  not  be  so?  And  why  should  you  not  both  look  to 
this  dreadful  time  as  the  beginning  of  some  new  step  in  the 
growing  joy  and  glory  of  life?  I  hope  you  may  thus  find  more 
than  consolation." 


CHAPTER  IV 

A  PERIOD  OF  VOCATIONAL  PREPARATION 

1862-1867 

A  Study  in  Biography 

On  graduation  from  college  I  felt  very  tired  of  recitation 
and  lecture  rooms.  In  longing  for  a  change  I  was  glad  of  the 
opportunity  to  spend  a  year  with  my  father  in  work  upon  the 
letters,  correspondence,  and  papers  of  his  father,  Dr.  Jedediah 
Morse,  in  preparation  for  the  writing  of  a  biography  of  him 
by  Dr.  William  B.  Sprague. 

It  was  a  year  spent  in  useful  investigation  of  a  period  of 
history  from  1783  to  1820,  looked  at  from  the  point  of  view 
occupied  by  a  prominent  New  England  clergjanan,  identified 
with  an  unusually  wide  range  of  influential  activities  in 
church  and  state.  It  made  upon  me  an  indelible  impression 
concerning  my  grandfather,  and  the  lessons  of  his  life,  con- 
taining as  they  did  the  message  of  a  broad  and  progressive 
fellowship  with  workers  within  the  evangelical  churches;  and 
an  equally  broad  and  progressive  program  for  the  extension 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  in  our  own  country  and  throughout 
the  world.  What  I  have  said  of  him  elsewhere  in  this  narra- 
tive fails  to  describe  the  real  dimensions  of  the  man  and  his 
life  work. 

During  this  year  I  taught  a  class  of  boys  in  the  Sunday 
school  of  the  Madison  Square  Presbyterian  Church  of  New 
York.  Of  this  school  William  E.  Dodge,  Jr.  was  then  the 
superintendent.  In  attending  both  the  school  and  the  teachers' 
meetings  I  became  better  acquainted  with  one  whom  I  had 
known  as  the  son  of  his  honored  father,  whose  name  he  bore, 
and  also  as  a  member  and  leading  officer  in  my  home  church. 
As  a  young  man  he  was  already'  prominent  among  the  city's 
men  of  public  spirit.  In  the  heat  of  the  Civil  War  he  was 
active  among  the  younger  merchants,  who,  with  his  father  and 

47 


48  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

other  older  men,  were  identified  with  the  United  States  Sani- 
tary and  Christian  Commissions.  Earlier  in  his  life  he  had 
been  active  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of  the 
city.  A  few  years  later  he  was  to  undertake  what  was  prob- 
ably the  greatest  among  his  many  acts  of  distinguished  service, 
by  accepting  the  presidency  of  the  New  York  City  Association, 
and  causing  it  under  his  leadership  to  become  the  leading 
and  most  influential  Association  in  the  world  brotherhood 
to  which  it  belonged. 

The  second  Bible  class  which  I  taught  this  year  was  much 
larger  than  the  first,  and  was  composed  wholly  of  adults.  It 
was  taught  for  four  months  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  at 
Easthampton,  Long  Island,  and  brought  me  into  vital  relation 
with  a  church  and  people  of  the  sort  that  I  hoped  and  prated 
I  might  become  fit  to  serve  as  pastor. 

An  Experience  as  a  Teacher 

The  two  following  years  were  spent  very  profitably  in  teach- 
ing as  a  private  tutor  in  the  family  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Throop 
Martin  of  Willowbrook  on  Owasco  Lake  near  Auburn,  New 
York.  Only  a  teacher  knows  and  appreciates  how  much  more 
he  is  learning  than  the  most  proficient  student  he  is  instruct- 
ing. My  star  pupil  was  an  interesting  character.  The  young- 
est son  of  a  family  of  ten  children  in  this  home  in  the  country, 
he  bore  the  name  of  an  intimate  friend  and  former  partner 
of  his  father.  He  is  now  widely  known  as  Edward  Sanford 
Martin.  Then  at  the  age  of  eight  he  was  a  boy  of  very  bright 
promise.  It  was  a  pleasure  to  teach  him  the  rudiments,  but 
especially  to  introduce  him  to  what  was  more  interesting  to 
teacher  and  pupil,  Macaulay's  "Lays  of  Ancient  Rome"  and 
the  appealing  characters  they  contained.  He  laid  hold  with 
special  feeling  and  enthusiasm  on  that  fiery  steed  of  whom  it 
was  declared,  "Black  Auster  was  the  fleetest  steed  from  Aufi- 
dus  to  Po !"  His  recitation  of  this  and  other  poems  was  accom- 
j)lished  with  an  appreciation  which  gave  them  new  meaning 
to  his  sjauijathetic  family  and  audience. 

Mr.  Martin's  well  selected  library  was  composed  of  several 
thousand  volumes.  Much  to  my  ow^n  profit,  the  cataloguing 
of  these  books  was  undertaken.  Title  page  acquaintance  with 
each  volume  was  superficial,  but  the  total  knowledge  of  books 


A  PERIOD  OF  VOCATIONAL  PREPARATION  49 

which  was  acquired  proved  valuable.  During  my  first  year 
in  this  library,  more  historical  reading  was  accomplished  than 
in  any  other  equal  period  of  my  life.  It  was  chieflj'  European, 
with  a  glance  at  ancient  and  American  history.  Historical 
novels  by  Walter  Scott  and  other  authors  also  illuminated  my 
path. 

During  the  second  year  of  teaching  the  studies  pursued  dur- 
ing the  first  year  at  the  Theological  Seminary  were  mastered. 
In  struggling  with  the  Hebrew  grammar  and  text,  valued  help 
was  received  by  a  visit  each  week  to  my  friend  and  classmate, 
Henry  S.  Barnum,  then  a  student  at  Auburn  Seminary,  and 
later  for  over  forty  years  a  leader  among  missionaries  in  the 
Turkish  Empire. 

At  the  beginning  of  my  work  as  a  teacher,  I  had  transferred 
my  membership  from  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Yale  College  to 
the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  on  Lake  Owasco,  where  I  became 
a  member  of  the  Consistory  or  Governing  Board,  and  engaged 
in  church  work  and  in  holding  Sunday  services  in  the  country 
neighborhood. 

Theological  Studies 

The  next  two  years  were  spent  in  theological  study  in  Union 
and  Princeton  Seminaries  with  Henry  Stebbins  again  as  class- 
mate and  roommate.  During  the  first  year  in  New  York  our 
instructors  were  Professors  Henry  B.  Smith,  Roswell  D. 
Hitchcock,  W.  G.  T.  Shedd,  and  Thomas  H.  Skinner.  We 
also  united  in  taking  charge  of  a  mission  chapel  in  Brooklyn, 
each  preaching  on  alternate  Sundays  and  both  engaging  in 
pastoral  work.  At  the  close  of  the  year  in  our  work  of  prepa- 
ration, we  felt  the  need  of  concentrating  upon  a  more  exclu- 
sively studious  program  and  agreed  to  join  the  senior  class 
at  Princeton  for  our  last  year  of  seminary  work  18GG-7.  Here 
we  carried  out  a  strenuous  schedule,  attending  both  the  Middle 
and  Senior  year  lectures  of  Professors  William  Henry  Green, 
Caspar  W.  Hodge,  and  Charles  Hodge. 

During  this  year  an  incident  occurred  of  peculiar  signifi- 
cance in  its  relation  to  my  life  work.  The  pulpit  at  Easthamp- 
ton,  Long  Island,  where  I  had  served  as  a  Bible  class  teacher, 
was  vacant,  and,  on  request  from  the  session  to  the  Pastoral 
Professor  at  Princeton,  one  of  our  class  was  sent  as  a  candi- 


60  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

date  and  accepted  a  call  from  the  church  some  months  before 
we  finished  our  course  of  study  at  the  Seminary.  For  the 
supply  of  his  pulpit  while  he  was  completing  his  studies  he 
called  on  some  of  his  classmates,  and  I  gladly  consented  at  his 
request  to  spend  a  Sunday  at  Easthampton,  where  I  had  not 
been  since  the  summer  of  1863.  It  was  a  pleasant  visit  among 
old  friends,  and  at  its  close  the  leading  member  and  officer 
of  the  church  told  me  that  in  seeking  a  pastor,  at  the  outset 
they  had  made  inquiry  for  me,  owing  to  their  knowledge  of 
my  intention  to  study  for  the  ministry.  They  were  incorrectly 
informed  that  I  had  given  up  the  thought  of  entering  that  call- 
ing, so  they  had  ceased  to  look  for  me.  If  their  search  had  been 
successful  and  the  call  had  come  it  certainly  would  have  been 
accepted,  for  during  the  entire  period  of  preparatory  study  no 
other  thought  had  been  entertained  by  me,  than  that  of  entering 
the  pulpit  and  pastorate  as  soon  as  the  way  should  open.  Such 
an  acceptance  therefore,  would  have  turned  me  so  far  from 
the  path  followed  at  the  close  of  that  year  and  afterward  that 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  could  not  have  sought 
and  found  me  for  the  lifelong  service  since  rendered  in  response 
to  its  call.  But  at  that  time  the  interview  with  my  friend 
caused  me  to  leave  Easthampton  with  a  decided  feeling  of 
disappointment.  The  backward  look  into  a  remote  past,  how- 
ever, often  reveals  to  us  a  divine  leading  which  at  the  time  we 
did  not — probably  could  not — discern. 

It  was  a  very  pleasant  and  profitable  year  that  we  spent 
at  Princeton.  We  took  our  meals  with  a  small  group  of  fellow 
students,  among  the  members  of  which  were  John  Sparhawk 
Jones — already  giving  promise  of  the  rare  and  eminent  service 
he  rendered  in  the  pulpit — ^Timothy  G.  Darling,  afterward  one 
of  Princeton's  very  best  gifts,  to  its  neighbor  seminary  at 
Auburn;  and  James  S.  Dennis,  soon  to  enter  on  his  long  and 
useful  career  as  missionary  and  author. 

He  was  the  son  of  a  wealthy  business  man.  His  decision 
to  become  a  foreign  missionary  made  a  deep  impression  upon 
this  inner  circle  of  friends  and  classmates,  and  caused  each 
one  of  us  prayerfully  to  consider  the  call  to  the  foreign  field. 
It  was  a  deliberation  which  permanently  deepened  my  interest 
in  the  work  upon  that  field.  From  boyhood  I  had  attended 
and  been  familiar  with  "the  monthly  concert  of  prayer"  for 


A  PERIOD  OF  VOCATIONAL  PREPARATION  51 

foreign  missious  and  missionaries,  which  was  widely  observed 
in  the  churches,  and  also  with  my  father's  often  expressed  will- 
ingness to  be  represented  on  the  foreign  mission  field  by  his 
children.  Two  of  his  grandchildren  are  now  (1917)  on  that 
field.  In  later  years,  in  an  intimate  connection  with  the  Stu- 
dent Volunteer  Movement,  I  have  often  recurred  to  the  decision 
of  18G7  with  the  conviction  that  if  at  that  time  the  claims 
of  the  foreign  field  had  been  presented  to  me  vividly  and 
intelligently  as  they  are  now  urged  upon  students  I  certainly 
would  have  become  a  Student  Volunteer. 

One  Monday  at  dinner,  Darling  rejDorted  having  spent  the 
previous  Sunday  in  New  York,  and  the  interest  he  had  taken 
in  a  sermon  he  had  heard  on  the  text:  "There  is  none  other 
Name  given  among  men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved."  He 
outlined  the  sermon  to  us,  saying  that,  much  to  his  surprise, 
there  was  very  little  in  the  preacher's  treatment  of  this  funda- 
mental theme  to  which  he  could  make  serious  objection.  He 
ended  by  telling  us  that  the  preacher  was  Dr.  Henry  W.  Bel- 
lows, then  pastor  of  the  leading  Unitarian  Church  in  New 
York  City. 

Two  years  later  I  was  reminded  of  this  incident  when,  as 
a  reporter  for  the  press,  I  attended  the  sessions  of  a  Unitarian 
Convention,  held  in  the  Church  of  the  Messiah,  in  New  York. 
During  a  discussion  of  the  adoption  by  the  Convention  of  some 
suitable  form  of  credal  statement,  one  speaker  in  a  very  posi- 
tive tone  was  taking  the  ground  that  an  all  sufficient  statement 
would  be  the  first  and  second  command nients,  enjoining  love 
to  God  and  to  our  neighbor.  Seated  in  the  gallery  and  look- 
ing down  on  the  heads  of  delegates  in  the  front  pews  of  the 
church,  I  recognized  among  these  the  familiar  form  of  Dr. 
Bellows,  and  I  noticed  that  beneath  his  thin  grey  hair  there 
was,  as  the  speaker  proceeded,  a  growing  redness,  indicating 
excitement  on  his  part,  as  clearly  as  if  I  could  have  seen  his 
face.  As  the  speaker  finished.  Dr.  Bellows  very  promptly 
gained  the  floor,  and  with  a  rare  combination  of  earnestness 
and  eloquence  took  the  position  that  he  could  never  give  assent 
to  any  such  proposal  as  was  now  being  considered  unless  it 
contained  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  mention  of  the 
supremacy  of  our  relation  to  Him. 

During  the  year  1866  my  roommate  and  I  had  been  taken 


62  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

under  the  care  of  the  Third  Presbytery,  of  New  York  City. 
It  was  a  New  School  Presbytery,  the  approaching  reunion 
between  the  Old  and  New  School  not  yet  having  been  con- 
summated. During  our  year  at  Princeton  Seminary,  after  due 
examination,  we  were  licensed  to  preach  by  this  Presbytery. 
At  the  close  of  the  Seminary  year  and  of  our  examinations  at 
Princeton,  soon  after  we  received  our  diplomas,  a  cordial  invita- 
tion was  sent  by  our  classmates  at  Union  Seminary  whose 
time  of  graduation  had  not  yet  arrived,  to  join  them  in  their 
closing  examinations  and  earn  a  diploma  at  Union  also.  They 
were  joined  in  this  request  by  the  professors  and  we  heartily 
consented  to  this  brotherly  proposal,  and  thus  graduated  with 
diplomas  from  both  Seminaries.  When  a  few  years  later  the 
reunion  of  the  Old  and  New  School  Presbyterian  Churches 
and  Assemblies  was  consummated,  and  the  two  seminaries 
were  placed  under  the  charge  of  the  one  united  Assembly,  thus 
created,  we  looked  upon  our  equal  relation  to  both  Seminaries 
as  having  been  one  of  the  signs  of  the  happy  approach  of 
this  significant  reunion. 

In  the  review  of  these  critical  formative  years  I  become 
devoutly  grateful  for  the  opportunities  enjoyed  of  listening  so 
often  to  the  elect  men  who  made  most  impression  upon  me  in 
connection  with  the  calling  I  had  chosen:  William  Adams, 
my  family  pastor ;  Horace  Bushnell,  my  first  pastor  at  school ; 
Professors  W.  G.  T.  Shedd,  Austin  Phelps,  and  Edwards  Park 
at  Andover;  President  Woolsey,  and  Professors  Goodrich, 
Fisher,  Noah  Porter,  and  Thomas  Thacher  at  Yale;  Henry 
Ward  Beecher,  Richard  S.  Storrs,  Stephen  H.  Tyng,  and  Pro- 
fessors Henry  B.  Smith,  Roswell  D.  Hitchcock,  W.  G.  T.  Shedd, 
Charles  Hodge,  William  Henry  Green,  and  Casper  W.  Hodge 
and,  as  a  teacher  of  Hebrew  from  the  foreign  missionary  field, 
the  venerable  Dr.  C.  V.  A.  Vandyke,  of  Syria. 

A  Beginning  in  Journalism 

In  the  spring  of  18G7,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  and  at  the 
close  of  my  Seminary  studies,  I  arrived  at  what  proved  to 
be  a  marked  turning  point  in  the  path  of  preparation  I  was 
pursuing.  This  was  due  to  a  wholly  unexpected  call  which 
demanded  serious  consideration. 

An  important  change  in  the  editorial  staff  of  the  l:^ew  York 


A  PERIOD  OF  VOCATIONAL  PREPARATION  53 

Observer  was  being  discussed  by  the  proprietors.  The  paper 
was  in  a  very  prosperous  condition.  Its  circulation  was  large 
and  its  influence  more  widel}'  felt  than  at  any  time  since  its 
establishment  by  my  father  and  uncle  in  1823.  The  two 
brothers  had  continued  principal  proprietors  of  the  paper 
until  1858,  when  my  father  sold  his  interest  to  my  older 
brother,  Sidney  E.  Morse,  Jr.,  of  the  Yale  class  of  1856.  He 
became  publisher  of  the  paper.  My  uncle  disposed  of  his  equal 
interest  in  the  property  to  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Irenaeus  Prime, 
who  continued,  as  he  had  been  for  many  years,  the  chief  editor, 
having  as  his  associate  his  younger  brother,  Dr.  Edward  D.  G. 
Prime.  For  ten  years,  eventful  in  the  history  of  the  Church 
and  the  country,  the  paper  had  prospered  under  the  able 
management  of  the  two  proprietors.  It  seemed  to  all  members 
of  both  families  a  partnership  so  well  established  that  it  was 
destined  to  last  many  years  longer. 

After  some  time  spent  in  Europe,  Dr.  Irenaeus  Prime  in  1867 
was  raising  the  question  with  his  associates  of  a  more  pro- 
longed absence  from  the  office.  This  led  to  a  desire  for  some 
addition  to  the  editorial  staff  and  as  a  candidate  for  the  posi- 
tion, upon  whom  all  parties  were  agreed,  I  was  asked  to  become 
in  this  way  identified  with  religious  journalism  for  a  term  of 
years  at  the  beginning  of  my  ministerial  life,  and  as  an  integral 
part  of  it.  No  definite  ofifer  could  yet  be  made  to  me  by  the 
management  of  the  paper,  but  in  the  spring  of  1867,  as  I  was 
setting  out  for  Europe  upon  another  errand,  my  brother  as 
publisher  of  the  paper  asked  me  whether,  if  their  plans  should 
so  mature  that  an  official  call  came  to  me,  I  would  reply 
favorably.  In  such  an  event  I  consented  to  send  the  reply 
desired. 

The  errand  upon  which  I  had  already  arranged  to  cross  the 
Atlantic  that  spring  had  been  suggested  by  my  father  and 
related  to  a  trip  abroad  with  a  cousin  of  mj  own  age  and  a 
friend  of  his.  It  was  my  second  visit  to  Europe.  Both  were  due 
to  my  father's  belief  in  the  educational  benefit  of  such  travel. 
After  a  strenuous  but  happy  tour  through  both  the  Scotch 
and  English  lakes,  following  the  beaten  tourist  pathway  of 
the  Shakespeare  country,  Kenilworth,  Warwick,  Blenheim,  and 
Oxford,  we  reached  London,  where  we  spent  two  weeks,  and 
then  crossed  the  channel  to  Paris. 


54  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

It  was  the  year  of  a  remarkable  World's  Exposition  in  that 
city  and  we  spent  two  weeks  in  a  more  thorough  visitation  of 
its  contents  than  I  have  ever  liad  time  and  opportunity  to  give 
to  any  one  of  its  successors  on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic.  We 
had  maintained  a  strenuous  pace  of  travel,  studying  economy 
in  our  ambition  to  make  the  amount  of  our  allowance  cover 
as  wide  travel  as  possible  and  extend  the  tour  to  Italy,  Egypt, 
and  Palestine.  But  at  Paris,  late  in  July,  the  oflQcial  proposal 
from  the  Observer  office  was  received.  Dr.  Irenaeus  Prime 
met  me  in  Paris  and  after  carefully  going  over  the  subject 
with  him,  I  accepted  the  position  of  assistant  editor. 

There  was  time  only  for  me  to  take  a  brief  trip  up  the  Rhine 
and  through  Switzerland,  before  reachiug  home  in  September. 
Then  I  began  work  in  the  editorial  office  of  the  Observer  under 
the  direction  and  in  helpful  fellowship  with  Dr.  Edward  Prime, 
who  was  in  editorial  charge  of  the  paper  during  his  elder 
brother's  prolonged  absence  in  Europe. 

The  work  of  religious  journalism  was  entered  upon  with  the 
desire  and  purpose  to  find  in  it,  as  many  other  clergymen 
had  found,  the  best  opportunity  for  them  to  accomplish  the 
object  of  their  ministerial  calling.  It  was  evident  that  my 
first  efforts  would  be  those  of  a  novice  seeking  the  traiuing 
and  experience  necessary  to  editorial  success.  For  many  years 
the  Observer's  constituency  of  readers  had  belonged  chiefly 
within  the  Presbyterian  churches,  but  a  portion  of  its  columns, 
according  to  the  original  design  of  its  founders,  was  set  ai)art 
for  news  from  the  various  denominations.  Items  for  this 
department  were  gleaned  from  the  daily  press,  and  especiallj' 
from  the  religious  papers  representing  the  various  churches 
concerning  which  news  was  desired. 

In  undertaking  this  department,  I  became  quite  fully  ac- 
quainted with  the  religious  press  of  all  the  denominations  and 
interested  in  the  work  accomplished  by  their  clergy  and 
churches.  In  reporting  in  the  Observer  all  important  religious, 
meetings  that  one  person  could  attend  each  week,  my  attention 
was  confined  to  no  one  group  or  denomination. 

One  of  my  classmates  in  Union  Seminary,  Rev.  Joseph  J. 
Lampe,  had  become  pastor  of  a  mission  chapel  on  the  West 
Side  of  the  city,  connected  with  the  Brick  Church  on  Fifth 
Avenue.    On  Sunday  I  attended  this  chapel  and  whenever  other 


A  PERIOD  OF  VOCATIONAL  PREPARATION  55 

duties  allowed,  the  weekly  prayer  meetings.  The  work  deeply 
interested  me,  sharing  as  I  did  the  desire  and  conviction  of 
my  friend  the  pastor,  that  this  and  kindred  city  mission  under- 
takings of  the  prosperous,  self-supporting  churches  should  be 
developed  under  a  policy  and  ijrogram  which  would  make  these 
chapels,  with  their  adherents,  self-supporting  churches.  In 
this  conviction  at  that  time  we  were  strengthened  by  the  fel- 
lowship and  sympathy  of  several  young  chapel  pastors,  with 
whom  we  became  acquainted. 

Dr.  Irenaeus  Prime  returned  from  Europe  soon  after  I  began 
work  in  the  Observer  office  and  contributed  to  the  value  of  the 
experience  and  training  I  was  receiving.  The  editorial  con- 
duct of  the  pajjer  by  himself  and  brother,  the  equally  excellent 
and  enterprising  management  of  the  publishing  department 
b}^  my  brother,  made  the  Observer  office,  in  those  palmy  days 
of  its  usefulness,  an  admirable  place  for  me  to  gain  knowledge 
and  experience  for  that  life  work  which  was  ahead  of  me, 
but  of  the  nature  of  which  as  yet  I  had  no  knowledge  and  of 
which  for  some  time  I  was  to  continue  ignorant. 


CHAPTER  V 

BEGINNING  OF  CONNECTION  WITH  THE  YOUNG 
MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION 

1867-1872 

Continued  Relations  with  The  New  York  Observer 

A  first  step  toward  what  was  to  prove  my  life  work  was 
imwittingly  taken  by  Dr.  Irenaeus  Prime  and  myself  in  Octo- 
ber, 1867,  when  he  said  to  me:  "A  convention  is  called  by  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  to  meet  in  this  city,  at  Dr. 
Rogers'  church,  and  I  want  you  to  make  a  report,  not  in  the 
regular  stereotyped  fashion,  but  so  that  people  will  want  to 
read  the  story." 

This  led  me  to  go  to  the  first  of  that  multitude  of  Y^'oung 
Men's  Christian  Association  conferences  and  conventions 
which  I  have  attended  in  this  and  many  lands.  Adopting  a 
method  used  at  that  period  in  other  states,  the  New  York  City 
Association,  of  which  William  E.  Dodge,  Jr.  was  the  President 
and  Robert  R.  McBurney  the  Secretary,  had  sent  out  a  call 
for  this  "First  Christian  Convention  of  the  State  of  New  York." 
It  was  sent  to  "the  pastors  and  brethren"  throughout  the 
state.  This  took  place  over  two  years  before  the  city  Associa- 
tion had  a  building  of  its  own  in  which  it  was  carrying  on  a 
fourfold  work  for  young  men. 

For  thirty  years  afterward,  McBurney  continued  its  Secre- 
tary, but  the  New  York  City  Association  never  again  called 
together  a  convention  of  this  sort.  This  one  was  being  held 
toward  the  close  of  a  period  out  of  which  the  North  American 
Associations  were  passing  into  one  of  more  concentration  upon 
their  distinctive  work  for  young  men. 

Among  the  speakers  at  this  Convention  were  Dwight  L. 
Moody  from  Chicago,  H.  Thane  Miller  from  Cincinnati — who 
had  been  President  of  the  last  two  International  Conventions, 
and  was  to  be  re-elected  by  two  more  in  the  future — L.  P. 
Rowland,  Librarian  and  Secretary  of  the  Boston  Association, 
and  others  who  were  already  prominent  in  the  work  and  in  the 

56 


BEGINNING  OF  CONNECTION  WITH  ASSOCIATION  57 

Conventions.  From  among  the  clergy  Drs.  Howard  Crosby, 
Duryea,  Waterbury,  and  others  took  active  part.  William 
E.  Dodge,  Jr.  presided.  For  the  first  time  I  was  listening  to 
Association  leaders  and  workers  and  became  much  interested 
in  them  and  their  message.  They  impressed  me  by  their  evan- 
gelistic enthusiasm,  and  equally  by  the  sanity  and  charm  of 
their  pointed  and  terse  language.  Moody  especially  made  this 
impression.  He  spoke  often,  but  rarely  in  each  instance  for 
more  than  five  minutes.  At  that  time  he  expressed  the  con- 
viction that  this  was  a  limit  which  should  be  habitually  ob- 
served by  all  speakers  in  religious  meetings.  I  felt  challenged 
to  prepare  a  report  for  the  Observer  which  should  give  some 
idea  of  the  unusually  interesting  features  of  these  meetings. 

Dr.  Prime  assured  me  that  the  report  met  his  expectations, 
and  he  gave  it  a  prominent  place  in  the  issue  of  that  week. 
What  proved  of  far  more  account  was  that  the  wording  and 
tone  of  this  report  arrested  the  attention  of  Secretary  Mc- 
Burney  strongly  enough  to  cause  him  to  come  to  the  office 
and  make  inquiry  as  to  who  wrote  it.  With  a  characteristic 
persistency  he  sought  me  out  as  a  desirable  young  man  to  get 
acquainted  with.  So  we  began  a  blessed  fellowship  which  is 
never  to  end. 

Soon  after,  I  joined  the  Association  and  began  to  take  part 
in  its  activities,  in  addition  to  the  mission  chapel  and  church 
work  in  which  I  was  enlisted.  Only  very  little  knowledge  of 
the  Association  had  come  to  me  before  this  time.  It  was  soon 
after  graduating  from  college  that  I  first  heard  the  name  of 
it  from  my  father.  At  that  time  (1862)  the  parent  Association 
in  London  was  eighteen  years  old.  The  North  American  Move- 
ment had  been  in  existence  eleven  years,  and,  older  than  either, 
I  had  nearly  attained  the  age  of  twenty-one. 

In  my  father's  library  were  a  number  of  good  books  which 
he  was  desirous  of  giving  to  some  collection,  in  which  they 
would  be  of  value.  Following  a  suggestion  he  had  received, 
he  offered  them  to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  If 
only  I  had  gone  with  him  that  summer  day  in  1862  to  the 
Bible  House,  where  the  Association  was  then  occupying  two 
rooms,  I  should  have  enjoyed  a  first  meeting  with  Kobert 
McBurney.  Years  afterward  in  our  strenuous  work  together, 
he  recalled  the  incident  as  having  been  the  only  occasion  when 


68  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

he  met  my  father.  For  it  was  only  a  few  years  after  this,  in 
September,  1868,  that  his  life  on  earth  ended  at  Kissingen, 
Germany,  where  he  had  gone  for  the  benefit  of  his  health.  He 
passed  awaj'  a  few  days  after  the  youngest  of  his  five  sons 
became  of  age.  On  the  birthday  of  this  son,  September  18th, 
in  playful  mood  he  had  said  to  him — the  only  one  of  his  nine 
children  living  who  was  with  him — "Today  I  cease  to  have  any 
authority  over  you.  Now  you  can  do  as  you  please."  Three 
weeks  before  this  he  had  been  in  health  vigorous  enough  to 
walk  to  the  summit  of  the  Rigi  in  Switzerland.  His  nine  chil- 
dren then  living  survived  him  in  an  unbroken  company  for  over 
twenty  years,  gratefully  and  lovingly  cherishing  his  memory. 

In  the  summer  of  18G2  McBurney  began  his  life  work  as  the 
employed  executive  ofiflcer  of  the  New  York  City  Association. 
Three  years  afterward,  an  errand  led  me  to  the  rooms  of  the 
Association,  for  which  an  attractive  equipment  had  been  pro- 
vided with  the  cooperation  of  the  Association's  Treasurer,  J. 
Pierpont  Morgan.  This  better  accommodation  was  one  result 
of  the  new  regime  on  which  the  Association  had  entered  with 
its  new  Secretary.  This  first  visit  to  an  Association  was  the 
occasion  of  my  first  meeting  with  Robert  McBurney,  neither 
of  us  dreaming  of  the  many  happy  years  we  were  to  spend 
together  as  intimate  friends  and  sympathetic  fellow  workers. 

A  year  later,  in  New  Haven,  I  heard  delegates  report  on  the 
recent  International  Convention  of  1800  in  Albany,  from  which 
they  had  just  returned.  These  young  men  impressed  me  favor- 
ably with  their  enthusiasm  and  the  good  report  they  brought 
of  the  spirit  and  character  of  the  proceedings  and  the  work 
represented.  Of  this  historic  Convention  and  of  the  leadership 
there  of  Cephas  Brainerd,  Robert  R.  McBurney,  Thane  Miller, 
Elihu  Root,  John  Wanamaker,  General  O.  O.  Howard,  James 
Stokes,  Jr.,  and  others,  I  was  soon  to  learn,  and  to  appreciate 
how,  under  this  strong  leadership,  there  was  to  date  from  this 
Convention,  throughout  the  North  American  Associations,  a 
growing  concentration  upon  work  for  young  men,  a  permanent 
convention  committee  upon  the  report  and  work  of  the  Inter- 
national Committee,  the  calling  by  that  Committee  of  State 
and  Provincial  Conventions,  the  location  of  the  Committee 
in  New  York  City,  the  observance  of  the  November  Week  of 
Prayer,  and  the  continued  supremacy  of  the  distinctively  reli- 


Robert  R.  McBurxey 


BEGINNING  OF  CONNECTION  WITH  ASSOCIATION  59 

gious  work  among  young  men.  At  this  time  I  became  an 
active  member  and  began  to  take  a  practical  interest  in  the 
work. 

In  the  summer  of  1SG8  McBurney  returned  from  the  Detroit 
Convention,  influenced  by  the  accounts  given  there  of  open-air 
meetings  held  in  other  cities.  He  felt  that  similar  meetings 
might  be  wisely  undertaken  in  New  York  and  asked  me  to 
lend  a  hand  in  this  endeavor.  Very  doubtful  of  my  ability  to 
do  what  he  desired,  I  refused  to  speak,  but  promised  to  be  one 
of  the  grouj)  of  workers  who  were  to  attend  the  first  meeting. 
It  was  held  in  Washington  Square  and  while  it  was  in  progress, 
I  felt  moved  to  ask  for  an  opportunity  to  speak.  I  had  never 
before  presented  the  gospel  message  with  so  vivid  a  conscious- 
ness that  many  listeners  might  be  hearing  that  message  for  the 
first  time.  This  experience  led  to  my  serving  as  a  member, 
and  then  as  Chairman  of  the  Open-Air  Committee  for  several 
years,  until  continuous  absence  from  the  city  prevented  the 
continuance  of  this  service. 

In  the  year  1868,  Association  officers,  members,  and  friends 
were  soliciting  the  funds  needed  to  erect  at  the  corner  of  2ord 
Street  and  Fourth  Avenue,  the  first  building  procured  by  the 
New  York  Association.  At  McBurney's  suggestion  I  sought 
from  my  brother-in-law,  Samuel  Colgate,  who  was  a  charter 
member,  his  generous  contribution  to  this  fund.  Of  the  amount 
needed— 1487,000— 1337,000  was  raised  before  the  completion 
of  the  building,  and  the  balance  was  secured  by  a  mortgage 
on  the  property.  Toward  lifting  this  mortgage  William  E. 
Dodge,  Jr.,  who  had  already  given  the  largest  contribution 
(125,000)  received  from  any  donor,  placed  in  the  Association 
safe  a  pledge  of  one  third — 150,000 — of  the  mortgage.  The 
amount  was  payable  when  the  balance  should  be  subscribed. 
Six  years  later  this  pledge  was  a  strong  factor  in  securing  the 
balance  and  removing  the  mortgage. 

In  the  same  year,  on  October  31,  1808,  I  was  present,  as  a 
reporter  for  the  Observer,  at  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of 
this  historic  building.  As  I  listened  to  the  vigorous  addresses 
of  Dr.  Stephen  Tyng,  Dr.  John  Hall,  and  others,  I  little  thought 
this  building  was  to  be  my  dwelling  place  for  some  years  and 
for  a  yet  longer  time  would  contain  the  office  where  would 
center  the  most  strenuous  work  of  mv  life. 


60  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

In  the  summer  of  1869  I  was  completing  a  second  year  of 
editorial  experience.  My  interest  in  the  Association  and  its 
work  had  steadily  increased.  Though  absent  from  the  annual 
Conventions,  the  story  of  the  important  meeting  in  the  summer 
of  1868  at  Detroit  was  attentively  read  and  reported.  Yet 
more  interesting  were  the  proceedings  of  the  Convention  of 
1869  at  Portland,  Maine,  where  William  E.  Dodge,  Jr.,  presided 
and  the  Evangelical  Church  Test  of  active  membership  was 
adopted  as  a  condition  of  representation  in  future  Conventions. 
In  the  weekly  press  of  the  evangelical  churches,  this  action 
was  widely  and  favorably  commented  upon.  The  best  friends 
and  supporters  of  the  Association  approved,  and  many  others 
who  had  been  of  doubtful  mind  by  this  action  were  persuaded 
of  the  genuinely  loyal  and  vital  relation  of  the  Association  to 
the  churches. 

During  the  summer  another  action  taken  by  the  Convention 
of  1869  was  brought  to  my  attention.  McBurney  called  at 
the  Observe?^  office  to  say  that  the  Convention  had  instructed 
its  Committee  to  secure  a  secretary  and  editor,  with  a  first 
emphasis  on  his  editorial  qualification.  The  Committee  had 
voted  to  ask  me  to  take  this  position,  and  to  edit  a  monthly 
paper  to  take  the  place  of  the  small  quarterly  magazine,  which 
for  some  time  they  had  been  circulating. 

The  opportunity  thus  offered  strongly  appealed  to  me.  It 
presented  itself  chiefly  as  a  journalistic  opportunity.  Of  the 
origin  and  history  of  the  Association  and  of  the  development 
of  its  work  I  knew  little.  Its  interdenominational  platform 
and  constituency  were  congenial  and  attractive.  Also,  as  a 
citizen  whose  home  for  all  his  life  had  been  in  New  York  City, 
I  realized  the  new  position,  influence,  and  standing  which  the 
Association  was  gaining  by  the  acquisition  of  its  new  building, 
under  the  management  of  such  men  of  ability  and  leadership 
as  William  E.  Dodge,  Jr.,  President;  Morris  K.  Jesup,  Vice- 
President;  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  Treasurer;  and  their  fellow 
Directors:  Cephas  Braiuerd,  John  Crosby  Brown,  James 
Stokes,  Jr.,  Dr.  C.  R.  Agnew,  Charles  E.  Whitehead,  William 
F.  Lee,  Charles  Lanier,  Thatcher  M.  Adams,  and  their  associ- 
ates. Among  the  latter  of  maturer  age  and  reputation,  were 
the  more  elderly  men  serving  on  the  Board  of  Trustees:  Jona- 
than  Sturges,   Frederick   Marquand,   James  M.   Brown,   and 


BEGINNING  OF  CONNECTION  WITH  ASSOCIATION  61 

James  Stokes.  With  the  leaders  of  this  exceptionally  strong 
city  organization  was  intimately  allied  the  International  Com- 
mittee, from  wliich  this  offer  of  an  editorial  position  came  to 
me.  Its  leading  members — Cephas  Brainerd,  Chairman,  Wil- 
liam F.  Lee,  Treasurer,  Robert  R.  McBurney,  and  James 
Stokes,  Jr. — were  also  directors  of  the  city  Association. 

Though  not  an  active  member  of  the  Committee,  William  E. 
Dodge,  Jr.  had  been  elected  an  honorary  member  and  was  a 
strong  supporting  and  counselling  friend.  He  had  that  year 
rendered  a  distinguished  service  bj'  presiding  at  the  Interna- 
tional Convention.  He  and  Messrs.  Stokes  and  Adams  were 
the  three  persons  connected  with  the  Association  whom  I  had 
known  from  boyhood,  as  they  were  members  of  the  church  with 
which  my  family  were  identified.  The  eminent  pastor  of  this 
church,  Dr.  William  Adams,  was  among  the  strongest  friends 
and  supporters  of  the  Association,  thoroughly  sympathetic 
with  Mr.  Dodge,  and  with  other  leading  members  of  his  church, 
including  his  own  son,  who  were  strongl}-  identified  with  this 
organization  on  behalf  of  young  men. 

The  position  in  Christian  journalism  offered  to  me  seemed  to 
give  promi.se  of  wider  dimensions  and  influeuce  than  the  one 
I  then  occupied.  But,  as  the  result  proved,  it  was  also  a  much 
more  experimental  undertaking,  for  the  Association  paper  lived 
only  a  few  years,  while  the  Observer  continued  its  useful  career 
for  many  years  beyond  its  approaching  Jubilee  in  1873.  After 
due  consultation  with  my  brother,  then  absent  in  Europe,  and 
with  his  partners  in  the  Observer,  I  worked  out  and  submitted 
to  the  Committee  a  plan  for  the  contents  of  a  periodical  of 
twenty-four  quarto  pages.  At  a  meeting  to  consider  this  plan 
it  met  with  their  approval,  and  shortly  afterward  I  accepted 
the  position  which  had  been  offered  to  me. 

Period  of  Editorship  of  the  Association  Monthly 
Dec.  1,  1869-Dec.  1,  1871 

First  Xumber  of  the  ''Association  Monthly'' 

The  International  Convention  of  1869  had  defined  the  oflBcer 
needed  by  the  Committee  as  "a  person  to  act  -as  secretary  and 
perform  editorial  duties."  I  was  asked  to  become  "Editor  and 
General  Secretary,"  but  in  the  terms  of  agreement  made  be- 
tween us,  the  whole  emphasis  was  upon  such  a  responsibility 


62  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

for  the  entire  management  of  the  paper,  including  its  publish- 
ing department,  as  made  my  relation  to  the  secretarial  office 
a  very  subsidiary  one.  There  was  some  discussion  about  the 
name  to  be  given  to  the  new  paper  or  magazine.  A  friend  sug- 
gested the  initials  '*Y.  M.  C.  A."  as  letters  of  unmistakable 
meaning,  and  indicating  a  name  destined,  as  we  all  believed, 
to  growing  good  repute  in  church  and  state,  a  belief  which 
has  been  fully  justified.  "Young  Manhood"  and  "Christian 
Manhood"  were  also  considered,  but  the  decided  preference 
of  our  counsellor,  William  E.  Dodge,  Jr.,  prevailed  in  selecting 
the  name  of  "Association  Monthly." 

In  the  new  building  the  Board  of  Directors  granted  to  the 
Committee  for  its  office  a  room  ( 16  x  20  ft. ) ,  corresponding  in 
size  and  position  to  that  occupied  by  the  Association's  Secre- 
tary. It  was  on  the  floor  above  and  immediately  over  that 
office.  For  the  following  eighteen  years  this  abiding  place  was 
granted  to  the  Committee  free  of  rent,  a  generous  gift  unob- 
trusively bestowed  and  not  published  until  the  close  of  the 
period  by  either  Committee  or  Association. 

During  the  year  1870  I  probably  gave  to  this  journalistic 
undertaking  more  strenuous  and  engrossing  labor  than  at  any 
time  since  I  have  had  the  strength  to  give  to  any  other  under- 
taking. Then  all  who  were  most  intimately  connected  with  it 
thought  the  time  had  come  when  Association  members  and 
friends  would  give  needed  support  to  a  periodical  of  the  kind 
proposed.  The  January  number  gave  general  satisfaction.  On 
its  first  quarto  page  was  a  picture  of  the  new  Association 
building,  dedicated  the  previous  month.  Dr.  Prime,  of  the 
'New  York  Observer,  was  not  the  only  prominent  editor  who 
ranked  the  building  among  the  finest  in  the  city.  It  had  been 
erected  at  a  cost  of  nearly  half  a  million  dollars.  Four  times 
that  amount  expended  now  (1917)  on  an  Association  building 
in  New  York  would  not  give  it  the  standing  accorded  to  that 
initial  building  forty-eight  years  ago. 

When  I  called  upon  the  eminent  pastor  of  the  Tabernacle, 
Dr.  Joseph  P.  Thompson,  for  an  article  in  the  Monthly  he  re- 
plied favorably  with  a  page  on  "The  Association  in  Architec- 
ture." In  this  he  expressed  the  conviction  that  this  novel 
edifice  was  worthy  of  a  place  in  that  historic  succession  of 
buildings  which,  during  the  Christian  centuries,  the  Church 


BEGINNING  OF  CONNECTION  WITH  ASSOCIATION  63 

had  erected  from  age  to  age  in  wise  effort  to  adapt  her  gospel 
message  to  the  wants  and  needs  of  each  generation.  In  this 
succession  he  enumerated  the  basilica  church  of  the  first  cen- 
turies, the  monastery  and  cathedral  of  the  middle  age,  the 
Puritan  meeting-house  of  the  reformation  era,  the  Wesley 
chapel,  the  Sunday  school  room,  and  the  press  rooms  of  the 
Bible  and  Tract  Societies!  Mrs,  Elizabeth  Prentiss,  whose 
recently  published  story  "Stepping  Heavenward''  was  being 
widely  read,  and  who  was  eagerly  sought  by  the  religious  press 
as  a  contributor,  consented  to  begin  a  serial  story  in  this  first 
number  of  the  paper.  Dr.  John  Hall,  Dr.  William  Adams,  Dr. 
John  McClintock,  and  other  leading  clergymen  were  among 
the  contributors. 

Another  valued  article  in  the  first  number  was  written  by 
Dr.  Martin  B.  Anderson,  first  President  (1853-88)  of  Kochester, 
N.  Y.,  University.  During  my  connection  with  the  Observer 
I  had  been  deeply  interested  in  hearing  and  reporting  a 
thoughtful  address  from  him  upon  the  value,  as  a  unity  promot- 
ing agency,  of  the  literature  slowl}^  created  and  widely'  cir- 
culated by  the  British  and  American  Tract  Societies.  This 
led  to  my  becoming  very  pleasantly  acquainted  with  Dr.  Ander- 
son. One  point  of  strong  sympathy  between  us  was  the  valua- 
tion we  both  placed  upon  the  Association  as  an  agency  ad- 
mirably adapted  to  the  use  of  Christian  students  in  school 
and  college. 

Since  my  first  connection  with  McBurney  and  the  working 
committees  he  organized  I  had  admired  the  wise  distribution 
of  responsibility  in  Christian  work  which  was  thus  accom- 
plished. The  sum  of  good  work  was  substantially  increased  as 
workers  were  multiplied  and  distributed.  This  excellent 
method,  I  remembered,  was  followed  by  Yale  students  in  their 
literary,  fraternit}',  and  athletic  organizations.  In  these  official 
responsibility  was  distributed  from  year  to  year.  But  in  their 
religious  work  Christian  students  at  Yale,  I  saw  clearly,  were 
not  as  wisely  following  this  method.  Dr.  Anderson  said  that 
for  years  he  had  favored  the  forming  of  a  Student  Association 
at  Rochester  University.  Since  1862  it  had  been  accomplish- 
ing an  effective  work  as  an  interdenominational  student  agency. 
His  convictions  on  this  line  led  me  to  obtain  from  him  for  the 
first  number  of  the  MontJily  an  article  in  which  he  strongly 


64  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

advocated  the  formation  of  "Associations  in  all  schools,  from 
the  academy  to  the  professional  school  inclusive."  This  first 
number  also  contained  reports  of  Student  Association  dele- 
gates to  the  Massachusetts  Convention  from  Williams  and  Am- 
herst Colleges.  For  the  second  number  I  secured  from  the 
undergraduate  president  of  the  Rochester  University  Associa- 
tion, Mr.  Edward  Gates,  a  report  of  the  excellent  practical  work 
accomplished  by  the  Rochester  students.  He  wrote:  ''Mem- 
bership in  some  evangelical  church  is  a  condition  to  election, 
but  all  are  made  heartily  welcome.  We  have  a  commodious 
room  tastefully  furnished  and  over  sixty  members,  being  a 
majority  of  the  students  in  college.  Some  who  are  Christians 
but  not  yet  church  members  heartily  cooperate  with  us.  Several 
mission  Sunday  schools  and  even  churches  have  been  started 
by  our  members  and  we  are  all  connected  with  Sabbath  schools 
or  Bible  classes  in  the  city  churches  where  we  worship." 

In  the  May  number  of  the  Monthly  a  similar  report  is  given 
of  the  Washington  and  Lee  (Virginia)  Association.  These 
articles  attracted  the  attention  of  Professor  A.  K.  Spence,  of 
the  University  of  Michigan.  Some  years  before  the  Rochester 
University  Association  had  been  formed,  he  had  been  the  leader 
in  organizing  (1857-8)  an  Association  in  his  own  university; 
so  that  for  twelve  years  he  had  been  actively  identified  with 
the  work  as  a  cooperating  member  of  the  faculty.  Like  Presi- 
dent Anderson,  and  some  years  before  him,  he  was  an  ardent 
advocate  of  this  form  of  student  work.  At  the  International 
Convention  of  18G8  in  Detroit  he  had  introduced  a  resolution 
commending  this  work,  but  the  Committee  on  Resolutions 
failed  to  report  it  for  action  by  the  delegates.  Professor  Spence 
was  not  discouraged.  He  noticed  with  interest  the  advocacy  of 
the  student  work  in  the  Monthly,  corresponded  with  its  editor, 
and  at  his  request  prepared  an  article  upon  "The  Association 
in  Colleges  and  Schools."  This  was  illustrated  by  reference 
to  the  excellent  work  at  Michigan  University.  He  followed  up 
his  article  by  attending  the  Convention  of  1870.  This  time 
his  resolution  was  passed  in  the  following  form :  ''This  con- 
vention hails  with  ^oy  the  organization  in  some  academies 
and  colleges  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  and  hopes 
that  these  may  be  i)lanted  wherever  practicable  in  our 
academies,  colleges,  and  universities." 


BEGINNING  OP  CONNECTION  WITH  ASSOCIATION  65 

This  was  my  first  Internatioual  Conventiou.  There  I  met 
for  the  first  time  Professor  Speuce  and  my  associate,  Robert 
Weidensall.  One  result  of  the  action  of  the  Convention  was 
that  AVeideusall  as  its  agent  began  in  that  year  to  regard  as 
one  feature  of  his  remarkable  pioneer  work  the  organization 
of  Student  Associations.  In  the  i)athway  of  this  work  was 
found  and  won  the  pioneer  International  Secretary  of  the 
Intercollegiate  Association  Movement,^  Luther  D.  Wishard. 

More  than  ever  I  now  became  desirous  of  promoting  at 
Yale  this  Association  method  of  student  work.  But  in  1870 
I  was  too  engrossed  in  what  I  had  undertaken  to  give  the  time 
and  attention  needed  for  this  endeavor,  and  some  years  passed 
before  the  desired  opportunity  was  presented. 

Growth  of  the  ^'Association  Monthly" 

The  columns  of  the  Monthly  devoted  to  ''News  of  the  Associa- 
tions" were  very  acceptable.  In  securing  this  intelligence  I 
became  more  familiar  than  any  one  else  with  the  number, 
standing,  and  activities  of  the  Associations,  and  also  with 
the  leaders  and  workers  at  home  and  abroad.  To  the  Conven- 
tion of  the  previous  summer  the  Committee  had  brought  re- 
ports from  three  hundred  and  twenty-four  Associations,  two 
hundred  and  sixteen  of  which  reported  fifty  thousand  members. 
Of  these,  twenty-five  per  cent  (eighty-one)  now,  1917,  have 
ceased  to  exist.  All  but  twelve  occupied  rented  rooms,  most 
of  them  poorly  located  and  equipped.  Twelve  owned  buildings 
valued  at  $1,400,000  of  which  five— located  in  New  York,  Wash- 
ington, Philadelphia,  Chicago,  and  San  Francisco — were  valued 
at  11,200,000. 

Pictures  of  these  five  buildings  were  given  on  the  front 
page  in  successive  issues  of  the  Monthly.  A  building  illustra- 
tion was  given  on  the  front  page  of  every  issue  during  the 
twenty-four  months  of  my  editorship.  To  do  this  I  found  it 
necessary  to  secure  pictures  of  some  Association  buildings 
from  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  one  in  San  Francisco 
contained  a  gymnasium  which  was  maintained  for  a  few  years. 
Owing  to  various  embarrassments,  the  debt  on  the  building, 
valued  at  |100,000,  was  gradually  increased  to  over  |80,000 
and  the  work  practically  suspended,  until  in  1880-81,  when  by 

1    Pp.  95,  161-9. 


66  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

the  joint  effort  of  D wight  L.  Moody  and  the  International 
Committee  the  work  was  reestablished  on  a  permanent  basis. 

The  principal  feature  of  the  Chicago  building  was  an  im- 
mense hall,  in  which  every  Sunday,  Moody,  who  was  President 
and  also  acting  General  Secretary,  held  an  evangelistic  service 
for  the  general  public.  He  was  here  beginning  that  beneficent 
life  work  as  an  evangelist  which  was  soon  to  engross  his  time 
and  effort.  In  order  more  correctly  to  define  its  work,  the 
Chicago  Association  at  this  time  had  changed  its  constitution 
and  stated  as  its  object  not  "the  improvement  of  the  spiritual, 
intellectual,  and  social  condition  of  young  men,"  but  "the 
spiritual,  intellectual,  and  social  improvement  of  all  within  its 
reach,  irresjiective  of  age,  sex,  or  condition." 

During  this  year  I  visited  Chicago  for  the  first  time.  The 
contrast  between  the  building  with  which  I  was  most  familiar 
and  the  one  in  Chicago  deej^ly  impressed  me.  Of  the  five 
principal  buildings  which  have  been  mentioned,  and  of  all  the 
buildings  then  owned  and  occupied  by  Associations  in  the 
world  brotherhood,  the  building  in  New  York  was  the  only 
one  planned,  erected,  and  equipped  to  accommodate  the  dis- 
tinctive, fourfold  work  of  the  Association — spiritual,  social, 
intellectual,  physical — and  so  manned  by  laymen  and  em- 
ployed officers  of  fine  qualification  that  the  work  then  begun 
has  ever  since  been  continued,  developed,  and  extended  in  this 
city  by  a  series  of  later  buildings,  the  equipment  of  which  has 
been  steadily  improved  from  decade  to  decade. 

This  New  York  building  was  therefore  the  first  of  its  class, 
and  was  of  a  pattern  which  from  that  time  has  been  followed 
throughout  the  world  brotherhood.  One  of  the  latest  born  of 
its  children  is  the  building  on  Tottenham  Court  Road,  London, 
dedicated  in  1912  as  the  first  building  erected  by  the  jjarent 
Association  in  that  city  to  accommodate  the  fourfold  work. 
It  was  some  time  after  this  work  had  been  defined  and  domesti- 
cated in  a  building  of  its  own  that  attention  was  called  to 
a  scriptural  definition  of  it  in  the  life  of  our  Lord  (Luke  2: 
52)  ;  "Jesus  advanced  in  wisdom  and  stature  and  in  favor  with 
God  and  man" — words  fitly  describing  His  growth  physically, 
intellectually,  spiritually,  and  in  social  disposition  and  service. 

In  preparation  for  the  erection  of  this  initial  building  in  New 
York,  and  before  the  State  Legislature  in  April,  18GG,  was 


BEGINNING  OF  CONNECTION  WITH  ASSOCIATION  67 

asked  for  an  Act  of  Incorporation,  a  change  suggested  by  Presi- 
dent Dodge  was  made  in  the  constitution  of  the  New  York 
Association,  by  adding  the  word  "physical"  to  the  definition 
of  its  object.  This  was  accordingly  stated  to  be:  ''The  improve- 
ment of  the  spiritual,  mental,  social,  and  physical  condition 
of  young  men."  It  was  the  first  Association  Constitution  in 
the  world  to  contain  the  word  "physical"  and  thus  to  complete 
the  definition  of  the  fourfold  work.  This  remarkable  new  de- 
parture had  not  been  undertaken  without  thoughtful  and 
thorough  preparation  by  President  Dodge,  Secretary  Mc- 
Burney,  and  their  associates.  In  forecasting  and  formulating 
the  fourfold  work  fhey  had  realized  that  the  building  required 
for  it  would  be  so  novel  and  of  such  dimensions  that  an  in- 
telligent, stimulating  conviction  of  the  need  for  the  work  in  it 
must  be  created.  After  careful  deliberation,  a  committee  of 
the  Directors,  composed  of  Cephas  Brainerd  and  Secretary 
McBurney,  prepared  a  remarkable  document  setting  forth  what 
was  being  done  in  the  city  to  wreck  young  men.  It  was  a 
survey  of  scientific  excellence.  On  the  basis  of  the  alarming 
facts  thus  disclosed  and  confidentially  circulated,  appeal  was 
made  for  the  Association  as  a  competing  agency  of  beneficent 
intent,  seeking  to  provide  what  was  best  and  most  elevating  for 
young  men.  The  investigation  was  so  thorough,  the  appeal 
so  urgent,  and  the  Directors  and  Secretary  so  efficient  in  the 
advocacy  of  the  cause,  that  the  large  sum  of  money  needed, 
nearly  |500,000,  was  provided. 

Equal  wisdom  and  ability  were  shown  in  planning  the  new 
building,  and  equipping  it  with  reading  and  social  rooms, 
library,  class  rooms,  gymnasium,  and  hall,  all  opening  into  a 
central  reception  room — the  architectural  and  social  pivot, 
about  which  all  the  activities  within  the  whole  structure  re- 
volved. On  this  spot  just  inside  the  door  of  entrance  to  the 
reception  room,  I  stood  with  visitors  scores  of  times,  explain- 
ing the  plan  of  the  building  and  the  varied  work  radiating 
from  this  central  point  of  view. 

Editorial  Experience  and  Association  Friendships 

These  two  editorial  years  I  spent  more  uninterruptedly  than 
at  any  other  period,  day  and  night,  week-day  and  Sunday,  in 
the  same  Association  building,  giving  time  and  eifort  as  editor 


68  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUN(J  MEN 

and  publisher  to  the  work  of  establishing  a  periodical,  self- 
supporting  because  of  its  circulation  and  advertisements,  and 
of  growing  value  to  the  Association  brotherhood  and  its  entire 
work,  local,  State,  and  International.  All  departments  of  this 
work  were  yet  in  the  period  of  their  early  development.  Some 
were  just  begun  and  yet  more  were  to  be  organized. 

As  publisher  and  editor,  advertising  agent  and  bookkeeper 
— and  for  a  time  office  boy  also — I  soon  found  it  necessary  to 
secure  lodging  in  the  building.  Editorial  work  and  much  of 
the  correspondence  and  bookkeeping  were  accomplished  in  the 
office,  far  into  the  night  and  early  morning.  The  first  printer 
I  engaged  was  a  beginner,  and  until  his  contract  expired,  in 
order  to  get  the  paper  out  on  time  it  was  necessary  to  spend 
an  entire  night  each  month  in  the  printing  room  reading  proof. 
Another  unbroken  night  each  month  was  spent  in  editorial 
work.  When  wisely  and  sanely  remonstrated  with  about  such 
overwork,  I  was  ignorant  and  foolish  enough  to  think  the 
remonstrance  unnecessary ! 

During  this  period  also,  an  active  interest  was  maintained 
in  the  work  of  the  New  York  Association.,  where  every  evening 
was  spent.  After  ten  o'clock  night  literary  work  on  the  paper 
was  begun  and  continued,  as  a  rule,  beyond  midnight.  This 
program  gave  me  time  and  opportunity  for  attention  to  local 
Association  work.  As  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Social 
Religions  Meetings,  I  took  a  special  interest  in  the  daily  prayer 
meetings,  the  evening  service — ^before  closing  the  rooms  at 
night — the  Thursday  and  Saturday  evening  meetings  and  Sun- 
day afternoon  services,  consisting  of  gospel  meetings  and  a 
large  Bible  class. 

These  responsibilities  kept  me  in  vital  touch  with  the  aggres- 
sive religious  work  of  the  Association.  The  daily  meeting  in 
the  parlors  was  attended  by  a  group  of  earnest  praying  Chris- 
tian workers.  In  my  own  prayer  life  at  this  time  a  new 
emphasis  on  communion  was  experienced.  Petition  and  inter- 
cession continued  to  have  their  place,  but  communion  with 
our  Lord  became  a  gracious  reality,  beyond  what  had  hereto- 
fore been  granted  me  in  prayer.  For  helpful  devotional  litera- 
ture and  other  guidance  in  this  sacred  experience  I  was  deeply 
indebted  to  the  motherly  friendship  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Prentiss, 
then  in  the  maturity  of  her  ripe  Christian  experience,  and 


BEGINNING  OF  CONNECTION  WITH  ASSOCIATION  69 

whom  as  a  contributor  to  the  columns  of  the  Monthly  I  had 
come  to  know  also  as  a  valued  friend. 

Beginning  with  this  period  I  became  intimately  associated 
with  McBurney,  a  fellowship  growing  in  intimacy  and  tender- 
ness until  the  end  of  his  life  on  earth.  I  was  more  incessantly 
with  him  during  these  two  years  than  afterward,  because  I  was 
more  uninterruptedly  in  New  York.  We  took  our  meals  to- 
gether morning,  noon,  and  night.  All  my  problems  were  his,  and 
all  his  were  mine.  There  was  a  sympathy  and  intercourse  that 
grew  out  of  both  likeness  and  unlikeness  of  disposition,  tastes, 
and  opinions.  This  constitutes  the  best  basis  of  enduring 
friendship.  Acquaintance  also  with  the  problems  and  activities 
of  both  an  Association  and  its  General  Secretary  gave  to  me 
a  knowledge  and  understanding  of  the  local  work  and  of  the 
secretarial  office,  which  proved  of  incalculable  value  in  all  after 
life.  They  also  helped  me  immensely  in  the  work  I  was  then 
doing.  More  than  once  I  have  heard  him  say  to  others :  "The 
best  thing  I  ever  did  was  to  get  Mr.  Morse  into  the  work." 
Certainlj-  the  greatest  blessing  and  help  I  ever  received  in  the 
work  from  a  fellow- worker  came  to  me  from  him  during  the 
many  years  of  our  unbroken  brotherly-  fellowship. 

With  other  Association  leaders,  older  than  myself,  was  begun 
during  these  years  a  growing  and  invaluable  intercourse. 
Cephas  Brainerd,  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  was  a  lawyer  of 
good  standing  and  growing  repute  in  his  profession.  He  had 
been  trained,  not  in  the  law  school,  but  in  the  law  office.  Of 
the  sixty  years  of  his  professional  life  in  the  city,  the  first 
twenty  had  now  been  sjjent  in  steadily  fulfilling  the  promise 
he  gave  of  eminence  in  his  profession.  He  was  also  Sunday 
school  superintendent  and  an  officer  in  the  Seventh  Presby- 
terian Church. 

Almost  from  his  arrival  in  New  York,  a  country  boy  from 
Haddam,  Connecticut,  he  had  been  a  member  of  the  Associ 
ation.  Very  soon  (1857)  he  was  elected  a  director,  an  office 
which  he  held  to  the  end  of  his  life,  a  service  of  fifty-three 
years'  duration.  He  was  at  this  time  (1869)  in  the  third 
year  of  his  virile  and  commanding  Chairmanship  of  the  In- 
ternational Committee,  an  office  in  which  he  completed  a  term 
of  twenty-five  years.  During  this  entire  period,  he  rendered 
incalculable  service  to  the  whole  Association  brotherhood. .  He 


70  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

was  giving  his  evenings,  and  not  a  few  hours  each  week  during 
the  daytime,  to  the  Association.  It  was  a  gift  which  called 
forth  remonstrance  from  friends  solicitous  about  his  advance- 
ment in  his  profession. 

The  third  friend  and  fellow-worker  has  already  been  men- 
tioned, William  E.  Dodge,  Jr.,  of  whose  practical  sympathy, 
counsel,  and  help  until  the  end  of  his  life  (1903)  I  received 
continued  and  valued  evidence. 

These  three  friends — older  brothers  I  might  call  them — had 
traveled  to  this  period  of  our  coming  together,  each  by  a  path 
helpfully  dififerent  from  the  one  which  I  had  followed.  Trained 
in  academy,  college,  and  professional  school,  I  had  lived  in  a 
student  atmosphere,  under  much  older  teachers  and  trainers, 
chiefly  from  the  clerical  profession  of  which  I  was  now  a  youth- 
ful member  in  good  and  regular  standing.  Of  these  three 
friends,  one  was  an  able  lawyer,  on  his  way  to  eminence  in  his 
profession;  another  had  been  trained  in  the  school  of  business 
and  was  already  of  high  rank  among  merchants  of  the  city; 
the  third,  my  most  intimate  associate,  had  spent  the  last  sixteen 
years — half  of  his  life  up  to  this  time — in  this  country  and 
city,  at  first  in  business  life,  and  for  the  last  eight  years  as 
the  employed  executive  officer  of  the  New  York  Association. 
He  had  graduall}^  commanded  the  entire  confidence  of  his 
strong  fellow-workers,  leading  them,  as  well  as  being  led  by 
them,  in  creating  this  remarkable  departure  in  Christian  work. 

These  three  were  all  laymen  in  the  Church.  They  were  my 
seniors  by  only  a  few  years,  but  were  many  years  older  than 
I  in  influential  touch  with  men  of  affairs  in  business  and 
professional  life.  They  also  represented  to  me  the  kind  of 
laymen  who  had  founded  the  American  Associations,  and  as 
volunteers  had  wholly  carried  on  the  movement  during  the 
first  period  of  its  history. 

McBurney  was  one  of  the  first  and,  moreover,  represented 
the  finest  type  of  the  few  among  those  young  laymen,  who 
at  the  call  of  their  Master  and  their  fellow  workers,  were 
being  led  to  devote  their  lives  as  executive  emploj^ed  officers, 
wholly  and  efficiently  to  this  form  of  interdenominational 
church  work.  Without  them  the  growth  in  number  of  these 
lay  workers  and  the  extension  of  the  brotherhood  and  of  its 
worl^  was  impracticable.    With  a  steadily  increasing  number 


BEGINNING  OF  CONNECTION  WITH  ASSOCIATION  71 

of  Association  laymen  and  employed  oflficers  I  was  now  be- 
coming acquainted  by  correspondence,  editing  "The  News  of 
Associations"  for  the  Monthly,  and  the  limited  amount  of 
travel  which  I  could  be  spared  from  the  oflSce  to  undertake. 

Although  an  oflBce  boy  at  first  had  been  deemed  unnecessary, 
I  was  soon  able  to  secure  a  clerk,  as  a  helper  in  keeping  the 
books  and  looking  after  other  details.  The  day  of  typewriter, 
stenographer,  and  telephone  in  our  office  work  was  not  to 
arrive  until  after  the  lapse  of  many  years.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  one  day  McBurney  came  into  the  office  with  a  letter  in 
his  hand  to  announce  with  indignation  the  astonishing  news 
that  Tom  Cree,  General  Secretary  at  Pittsburgh,  with  a  false 
economy  had  employed  a  woman  as  a  helper  in  the  Association 
office.  That  the  time  would  ever  come  when  the  New  York 
Association  and  the  International  Committee  would  engage 
such  an  employe  neither  of  us  could  then  imagine,  much  less 
that  McBurney  would  leave  in  his  will  a  generous  bequest  to 
the  stenographer  who  for  many  years  had  rendered  him  ac- 
ceptable service. 

The  provision  of  a  clerk  made  an  occasional  brief  absence 
from  the  office  practicable.  At  points  easily  accessible  I  was 
able  to  attend  anniversaries  and  other  Association  meetings. 
In  one  instance  Mr.  Dodge  had  arranged  that  I  should  take 
an  anniversary  appointment  where  he  had  been  expected,  and 
sent  a  courteous  letter  to  the  President.  Without  knowledge 
of  the  contents  of  this  letter,  I  was  disconcerted  when  intro- 
duced by  the  long  title  given  to  me  as  follows,  "The  official 
representative  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Annual 
Convention  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  of  the 
United  States  and  the  British  Provinces."  This  long  official 
name  of  the  Committee  had  already  become  too  burdensome 
for  frequent  use,  and  although  continued  on  letterheads,  and 
in  other  official  connections,  the  adjective — International — 
was  the  only  word  commonly  used  to  designate  the  Committee 
and  the  Convention  until  in  1879  it  was  formally  adopted  by 
the  Convention  and  became  its  official  title.  Soon  after  it  was 
used  in  obtaining  the  Act  of  Incorporation. 

First  State  Convention 

In  April,  1870,  the  fifth  month  of  my  connection  witlj  the 


72  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Committee,  and  before  attending  an  International  Convention, 
I  attended  in  Marshalltown,  as  my  first  meeting  with  Asso- 
ciation delegates,  the  State  Convention  of  Iowa.  Twenty-one 
of  the  twenty-four  Associations  in  Iowa  were  represented  by 
seventy-five  delegates  and  twenty  corresponding  members.  I 
was  not  yet  experienced  enough  in  the  work  fitly  to  represent 
the  Committee.  It  was  deemed  best  for  me  to  go,  however, 
and  the  trip  was  certainly  of  great  benefit  to  me,  even  if  I 
shed  no  light  of  wisdom  on  the  Convention.  It  was  my  first 
journey  westward  beyond  Niagara  Falls.  At  the  suggestion 
of  McBurney  and  Braiuerd,  I  carried  with  me  and  read  on 
the  train,  out  of  the  scant  Association  literature  of  that  day, 
reports  of  the  British,  European,  and  other  Associations,  in 
order  to  "get  posted"  for  the  service  I  was  to  render  to  our 
brethren  west  of  the  Mississippi  Kiver,  in  their  diflBcult  rudi- 
mentary problems !  The  State  Worii  had  not  yet  begun  to  take 
definite  form.  This  was  the  second  annual  meeting  of  the 
Iowa  Associations.  In  no  other  state,  west  of  Michigan  and 
Indiana,  had  the  corresponding  member  of  the  International 
Committee  yet  called  a  Convention.  The  Committee  had  two 
employed  agents,  but  in  no  state  or  province  had  its  Committee 
secured  such  an  agent. 

It  was  necessarily  a  hurried  journey,  for  I  could  be  spared 
only  for  a  week  from  the  ofiice.  The  Convention  was  in  session 
less  than  two  week  days.  My  only  tarrying  place  going  or 
returning  was  a  stop  over  Sunday  on  the  journey  westward  at 
Chicago.  I  had  visited  London  and  Paris  more  than  once, 
but  this  was  my  first  visit  to  a  city  west  of  New  York  State. 
On  this  journey  also  for  the  first  time  I  crossed  the  Mississippi 
River.  The  most  significant  event  was  a  first  personal  meet- 
ing with  Dwight  L.  Moody. 

The  Chicago  Association  building  I  have  already  described. 
The  barrenness  of  its  equipment  for  the  welcome  of  young  men 
impressed  me  in  contrast  with  what  I  was  accustomed  to.  I 
arrived  on  Saturday  in  time  to  receive  a  cordial  welcome  from 
Mr.  Moody.  On  Sunday  evening  I  was  one  of  his  audience  in 
the  very  large  hall  which  was  the  main  feature  of  the  Associa- 
tion building.  He  read  the  story  of  the  wicked  King  Manasseh, 
toward  the  close  of  whose  reign  occurred  his  repentance,  a 
great  revival,  and  the  great  reformation  which  he  accomplished 


BEGINNING  OF  CONNECTION  WITH  ASSOCIATION  73 

before  the  end  of  his  life.  I  was  deeply  interested  in  the  evan- 
gelistic message  and  appeal.  I  had  not  heard  Mr.  Moody  since 
his  visit  to  the  New  York  Convention  of  1867  which  I  reported 
in  the  Observer. 

Instead  of  the  brief,  pithy  five-minute,  anecdotal  talks  to 
which  I  then  listened,  I  heard  a  much  longer,  more  earnest 
appeal.  An  immediate  practical  response  to  this  appeal  was 
requested  from  an  audience  which  had  come  to  hear  an  evan- 
gelist who,  as  it  appeared  to  me,  was  steadily  growing  in  the 
study  and  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  This  impression  was  con- 
firmed as  I  walked  away  from  the  meeting  with  him  and  Mrs. 
Moody.  He  talked  with  characteristic  frankness  of  his  work, 
and  what  he  was  attempting  to  accomplish.  He  was  evidently 
not  contented  with  the  effort  he  had  made  that  evening.  He 
said,  "For  these  Sunday  evening  meetings  I  prepare  during 
each  week,  giving  all  the  time  I  can.  My  wife  tells  me  each 
Sunday  how  I  have  succeeded,  for  she  knows  better  than  I  do. 
During  the  week  I  accept  invitations  to  speak  in  other  places 
and  there  I  use  what  she  says  have  been  the  best  of  my  talks 
here." 

About  the  Association  work  in  New  York  and  elsewhere  he 
inquired,  also  about  our  Committee,  and  the  Monthly  and  my 
own  work.  He  alluded  to  the  fact  that  some  had  questioned 
whether  there  was  call  for  the  issue  by  the  Committee  of  such 
a  paper.  I  said  I  knew  there  was  a  divided  sentiment  about  it, 
but  this  was  not  at  all  discouraging  to  me,  and  that  I  heartily 
believed  a  good  work  could  be  accomplished  by  the  paper.  I 
left  Chicago  feeling  that  he  had  not  been  in  sympathy  with  the 
action  taken  at  the  last  Convention,  instructing  the  Committee 
to  publish  a  monthly  periodical. 

First  International  Convention 

The  second  meeting  of  Association  delegates  which  I  at- 
tended, met  a  few  months  later  in  Indianapolis  (June  22-26, 
1870).  It  was  the  fifteenth  International  Convention.  I  have 
attended  every  one  since  with  a  single  early  exception,  that 
of  1872.  The  President  chosen  was  John  S.  Maclean,  a  promi- 
nent merchant  of  Halifax,  and  the  Association  leader  of  our 
fellow  workers  in  the  Maritime  Provinces.  He  was  known 
as  the  Bishop  of  the  Associations  in  that  part  of  Canada,  and 


74  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

had  right  to  the  title.  He  was  the  first  Canadian  in  the  succes- 
sion of  Convention  Presidents. 

The  most  prominent  delegate  and  speaker  was  D.  L.  Moody. 
It  was  the  last  Convention  to  which  he  came  as  a  delegate  and 
as  President  and  Secretary  of  the  Chicago  Association.  He 
was  attracted  by  the  singing  of  one  of  the  delegates  from 
Newcastle,  Pennsylvania — Ira  D.  Sankey.  An  acquaintance 
was  thus  begun  which  ripened  into  a  partnership  in  that  mar- 
velous evangelistic  work  and  message  which  brought  untold 
blessing  to  the  Church  and  the  Association,  and  to  whole 
communities  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  He  gave  to  the 
Convention  its  most  stimulating  spiritual  message.  His  ad- 
dress at  one  of  the  evening  sessions  was  by  far  the  most  power- 
ful evangelistic  appeal  to  which  I  had  ever  listened.  Few,  if 
any,  of  the  delegates  knew  of  the  growing  conviction  he  was 
cherishing  even  then  concerning  his  separation  to  evangelistic 
work  so  exclusively  as  to  postpone  for  eight  years  his  attend- 
ance upon  another  International  Convention. 

A  very  prominent  delegate  identified  with  the  "Old  Guard 
of  Association  Leaders,"  was  George  H.  Stuart  of  I'hila- 
delphia,  then  most  widely  known  for  his  recent  distinguished 
services  during  the  Civil  War  as  President  of  the  United 
States  Christian  Commission — a  Commission  of  which  it  has 
been  said  it  was  "the  first  organized  attempt  of  the  Protestant 
Church,  on  a  large  scale,  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  men  under 
arms."  It  was  an  attempt  initiated  by  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association.  Mr.  Stuart  himself  was  an  Association 
veteran.  In  1855  he  was  an  American  delegate  to  the  first 
World's  Conference  at  Paris.  In  1859  he  was  President  of  the 
International  Convention  of  that  year,  and  in  18G1  he  was 
chairman  of  the  International  Committee,  then  located  in 
Philadelphia.  That  Committee,  at  the  request  of  the  Army 
Committee  of  the  New  York  City  Association,  called  the  Con- 
vention of  that  year.  Mr.  Stuart  presided  and  also  was  chosen 
President  of  the  Commission,  and  became  its  leading  spirit 
and  executive.  He  also  presided  at  the  International  Conven- 
tion of  18G3. 

No  delegate  was  more  honored  than  H.  Thane  Miller  of 
Cincinnati.  He  had  been  enthusiastically  chosen  President  of 
the  three  recent  Conventions  of  186G,  '07,  and  'G8.    His  friend 


BEGINNING  OF  CONNECTION  WITH  ASSOCIATION  75 

Dr.  Theodore  L.  Ciiyler  ouce  said  of  him  that  though  apijar- 
eutly  blind  he  could  see  more  clearly  than  most  men  who 
enjoyed  the  use  of  both  eyes.  In  the  succession  of  convention 
presidents,  until  his  death  in  1898,  he  is  entitled  to  the  first 
place.  This  preeminence  was  not  due  simply  to  his  remarkable 
record  as  a  presiding  officer  of  these  three  critical  Conventions, 
and  also  of  a  fourth  in  1872.  It  was  due  also  to  the  fact  that, 
unlike  other  presidents,  he  afterward  attended  until  his  death 
every  International  Convention,  and  was  cordially  welcomed 
to  the  platform  by  each  of  his  successors  in  ofiice  and  by  the 
delegates  as  really  or  virtually  their  honorary  assistant  Presi- 
dent. He  was  an  inspiring  leader  in  the  service  of  song. 
There  are  hymns,  to  the  musical  rendering  of  which  he  so 
impressively  introduced  his  fellow  workers,  that  whenever  and 
wherever  afterward  heard  they  are  always  a  pleasing  reminder 
of  him.  A  leader  in  the  convention  period  before  the  war,  he 
was  sympathetic  with  the  diversified  evangelistic  work,  and 
was  efficient  in  it.  In  this  second  period  he  was  equally  sym- 
pathetic with  the  steady  trend  toward  concentration  upon 
work  among  young  men  and  with  the  objective  of  the  Interna- 
tional Committee.  He  had  rare  faculty  in  so  expressing  this 
broad  sympathy  as  to  command  the  confidence  of  the  entire 
brotherhood  at  each  succeeding  Convention  during  the  trying 
transition  from  one  period  to  the  next.  Coming  from  Cincin- 
nati, a  city  identified  with  the  West,  his  voice  and  influence 
were  of  peculiar  value  to  a  Committee  serving  the  whole  coun- 
try, but  with  headquarters  and  a  membership  resident  in  the 
East. 

Another  delegate,  prominent  in  the  Convention  as  Chairman 
of  its  Business  Committee,  was  H.  Kirke  Porter  of  Pittsburgh, 
then  at  the  beginning  of  his  eminent  business  career.  He  had 
begun  his  long  term  of  service  as  President  of  the  Pittsburgh 
Association  and  was  on  his  way  to  chairmanship  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Committee,  presidency  of  the  International  Conven- 
tion of  1873  and  membership  in  the  International  Committee 
for  a  term  still  unexpired,  and  which  has  now  (1917)  con- 
tinued for  forty-two  years. 

At  this  Convention,  as  already  mentioned,  I  first  met  my 
associate,  Robert  Weidensall.  Though  neither  of  us  yet  were 
called  Secretary,  he  for  twenty  and  I  for  seven  months  had 


76  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

been  known  as  agents  of  the  International  Committee.  In 
this  period  of  his  pioneer  work  he  had  organized  eight  Asso- 
ciations and  helpfully  visited  many  more.  His  time  for  labori- 
ous and  efficient  State  organization  had  not  yet  arrived.  We 
were  alreadj''  acquainted  bj'  correspondence,  and  there  began 
a  brotherlj'  fellowship  as  employed  officers  of  the  Committee, 
which  has  already  lasted  forty-seven  years  and  continues  with 
growing  affection  and  helpful  cooperation. 

Another  delegate  with  whom  I  had  corresponded,  and  whose 
friendship  I  was  to  enjoy  for  nearly  forty  years,  on  the  staff 
of  the  Committee,  was  Thomas  K.  Cree,  then  Secretary  of  the 
Pittsburgh  Association.  As  the  Committee's  corresponding 
member  for  Pennsylvania,  he  was  beginning  to  give  shape  to 
that  form  of  State  work  best  adapted  to  create  and  foster 
efficient  Associations. 

Another  delegate  from  Pittsburgh,  William  K.  Jennings, 
became  a  lifelong  friend  and  fellow-worker.  He  was  begin- 
ning his  career  as  a  lawyer,  and  also  as  a  worker  and  officer 
for  life  in  the  Pittsburgh  Association.  He  has  been  singularly 
efficient  as  a  delegate  in  International  Conventions  and  he 
has  often  rendered  invaluable  service  to  the  whole  brotherhood 
as  chairman  of  the  most  important  convention  committees. 

An  active  working  delegate,  always  at  hand  when  needed, 
was  George  A.  Hall,  then  General  Secretary  of  the  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  Association,  and  soon  to  become  the  first  State 
Secretary  of  New  York.  He  and  his  senior,  Samuel  Taggart, 
were  the  strong  pioneers  among  State  Secretaries  of  the 
brotherhood.  They  were  also  trusted  personal  friends,  whose 
memory  it  is  a  delight  and  an  inspiration  to  cherish.  Among 
the  strong  leaders  of  the  first  generation  of  Association  Secre- 
taries, George  Hall  was  conspicuously  efficient  in  leading 
men  to  devote  their  lives  to  the  work.  Not  only  because  of  the 
number  he  thus  influenced,  but  because  of  the  quality  and  rank 
of  these  men,  he  earned  and  deserved  the  title  of  "the  Discov- 
erer of  Secretaries." 

The  primacy  given  in  the  mind  and  aspiration  of  these  dele- 
gates to  the  work  spiritual  and  evangelistic  was  by  far  the 
strongest  impression  I  received  at  this  first  Convention.  Some 
years  afterward,  in  describing  this  impression,  I  wrote  as 
follows : 


BEGINNING  OF  CONNECTION  WITH  ASSOCIATION  77 

"Three  stroug  spiritual  personalities  seemed  to  be  the  in- 
spiration  of  the  movement  and  the  delegates.  During  the  pre- 
ceding four  years  the  number  of  Associations  reporting  to  the 
Convention  had  grown  from  sixty  to  three  hundred,  all  of 
them,  save  two  or  three,  located  as  yet  in  hired  rooms.  These 
three  leaders  were  Dwight  L.  Moody,  Thane  Miller,  and  Kobert 
McBurney.  As  many  of  the  delegates  spoke  to  me  of  previous 
Conventions,  and  of  spiritual  messages  received  there,  it  was 
evident  that  from  these  leaders  spiritual  power  was  going 
forth  throughout  the  brotherhood.  The  strongest  of  these 
dynamos  was  Moody.  The  dates  of  all  the  New  England  State 
Conventions  of  that  year  were  so  adjusted  to  an  eastern  tour 
of  his  that  he  attended  them  all.  Then  followed  his  career 
as  a  world  famous  evangelist.  During  this  career  he  was 
constantly  repeating  his  testimou}'  that  in  his  training  for 
Christian  work  he  owed  more  to  the  Association  than  to  any 
other  agency.  To  this  confession  all  the  Associations  along 
his  path  could  rej)ly  that  he  was  fully  repaying  that  debt  in 
what  they  were  receiving  from  him  in  things  spiritual  and 
material.  During  the  closing  years  of  his  life  work  it  was  on 
his  own  Northtield-Hermon  campus  that  the  Associations 
found  the  successor  which  God  provided  for  us  in  the  person 
of  John  R.  Mott." 

In  the  business  session  the  Association  Monthly  was  the 
item  in  the  report  on  the  International  Committee's  Report 
which  excited  most  discussion,  as  it  had  been  the  novel  feature 
in  the  Committee's  work  of  that  year.  There  was  some  criti- 
cism. But  financially,  all  expenses  of  the  first  five  months  had 
been  paid  from  subscriptions  and  advertisements  amounting 
to  14,182.17.  Moody  frankly  confessed  that  he  had  been 
opposed  to  the  issue  of  such  a  paper,  but  he  had  been  entirely 
converted,  and  was  ready  to  do  what  he  could  to  extend  its 
circulation.  The  Convention  heartily  authorized  the  continu- 
ance of  the  undertaking.  All  the  proceedings  were  to  me  an 
absorbing  stud3\  Responsibility  for  a  full  report  in  the  next 
issue  of  the  Monthly  increased  this  attention. 

I  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  important  service  Mc- 
Burney and  Brainerd  rendered,  on  the  platform  as  occasion 
demanded,  and  3'et  more  efficiently  in  vigilant  attention  to  all 
that  related  to  action  taken  by  the  Convention  on  points  essen- 
tial to  carrying  on  the  work  of  its  Committee — a  work  which 
preceding  Conventions  had  begun  and  with  the  merits  of  which 
I  was  becoming  acquainted.    While  emphasis  on  the  spiritual 


78  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

and  evangelistic  work  was  primary  in  the  utterances  of  the 
delegates,  that  fourfold  work  for  young  men,  with  which  I  was 
familiar,  seemed  to  me  conspicuously  absent  from  the  experi- 
ence of  these  delegates.  Yet  this  was  the  phase  and  method 
of  work  with  which  the  Convention's  Committee  was  most 
engrossiugly  identified  and  the  study  and  extension  of  which 
was  its  first  objective.  In  four  successive  annual  meetings 
(1866-1870)  the  Conventions  had  been  content  and  united  in 
encouraging  the  Committee  to  give  a  primary  emphasis  to 
promoting  City  Association  Work  upon  this  plan  and  program, 
which  as  yet  was  fully  illustrated  and  visualized  only  in  the 
city  where  the  Convention's  Committee  was  located.  Nearly 
twenty  years  of  strong  leadership  and  endeavor  were  to  pass 
before  the  whole  city  movement  was  homogeneously  united 
upon  the  program  of  this  work  for  young  men  and  boys. 

There  was  in  this  broad  work  room  and  provision  for  the 
warmest  religious  evangelistic  appeal  combined  with  a  hu- 
manitarian social-service  emphasis  upon  a  better  environment 
for  the  tempted  young  man.  It  was  this  combination,  so  far 
as  it  had  been  partially  developed  in  London,  that  so  deeply 
impressed  visiting  American  young  men  that  they  were  not 
satisfied  on  their  return  home  until  they  had  begun  in  1851 
the  reproduction  of  it  in  North  America.  At  the  Convention 
of  1861  one  of  the  speakers  had  said  he  regarded  as  the  first 
most  important  mission  of  the  Association  "the  socializing  of 
Christianity — practical  Christianity."  The  fourfold  work  in 
its  entirety  and  its  best  development  gives  the  Association  title 
as  a  pioneer  in  Christian  social  service. 

State  Conventions 

During  the  latter  part  of  this  first  year  with  the  Committee, 
I  attended  the  State  Conventions  of  Connecticut,  New  Hamp- 
shire, New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  meeting  lead- 
ers and  workers,  with  many  of  whom  I  had  corresponded  and 
from  all  of  whom  was  gained  valuable  knowledge  of  the  work 
and  of  the  opinions  and  convictions  held  by  those  most  active 
in  it. 

During  October,  to  all  the  New  England  State  Conventions 
Moody  was  welcomed.  Two  of  these  I  attended,  and  gained 
new  impressions  of  his  growing  power  as  an  evangelist,  and 


BEGINNING  OF  CONNECTION  WITH  ASSOCIATION  79 

also  closer  fellowship  with  him  iu  the  work  of  the  Kiugdom. 
It  was  his  last  visit  to  this  section  of  the  country,  wholly  upon 
the  errand  of  Association  work.  In  a  few  years  he  was  to 
return  from  across  the  ocean,  to  accomplish  a  great  work  as 
an  evangelist  in  the  cities  of  New  England,  and  throughout 
the  continent. 

The  New  York  State  Convention  of  that  year  met  in  Pough- 
keepsie,  where  my  uncle  I*rofessor  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  wel- 
comed the  delegates  on  behalf  of  the  citizens.  I  was  his  guest 
during  those  days,  and  had  the  opportunity  of  enjoying  his 
sympathj'  in  a  work,  upon  my  connection  with  which  he  gave 
me  his  benediction.  He  was  then  nearly  eighty  years  of  age 
and  passed  away  not  many  months  after  this  meeting. 

At  the  end  of  its  first  year  the  Association  Monthly  con- 
tinued to  be  a  tax  upon  the  treasury  of  the  Committee.  The 
circulation  was  not  as  large  as  we  had  hoped  it  would  be,  for 
the  response  in  subscriptions  from  the  Associations  and  the 
Convention  had  been  somewhat  disappointing.  McBurney 
tried  to  comfort  me  with  the  assurance  that  the  paper  deserved 
better  support  and  that  the  Associations  would  in  time  appre- 
ciate and  sustain  it!  A  conspicuous  feature  of  every  issue 
had  been  the  front  page  picture  of  an  Association  building. 
Though  only  one  accommodated  a  permanent  fourfold  work, 
they  all  emphasized  the  possession  of  equipment  and  this  form 
of  endowment.  I  was  not  discouraged,  confidently  believing 
that  in  another  year  or  two,  by  persevering  etfort,  the  goal  of 
self-support  could  be  reached.  During  the  second  year — 1871 — 
I  obtained  |10,000  worth  of  advertisements.  Another  serial 
story,  and  articles  not  directly  connected  with  the  work,  either 
as  news,  editorials,  or  contributions,  were  not  deemed  desir- 
able. The  whole  paper  was  gradually  devoted  exclusively  to 
what  directly  concerned  the  Associations  and  their  work. 

Second  International  Convention 

The  Convention  of  1871  was  held  in  the  National  Capital. 
General  Grant  was  then  President  and  attended  the  opening 
meeting.  He  was  a  man  of  very  few  words.  The  nine  he 
uttered  that  evening  were  the  first  and  briefest  but  most  noted 
and  noteworthy  welcome  received  by  the  delegates.  In  this 
utterance  he  said  of  the  Association  work,  "I  fully  believe  it 


80  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

is  for  the  general  good."  From  every  presidential  successor 
of  General  Grant  has  come  to  the  brotherhood  growing  encour- 
agement and  cooperation.  John  Wanamaker  was  chosen  Presi- 
dent, In  the  discussions,  as  well  as  in  the  number  and  repre- 
sentative character  of  the  delegates,  the  Convention  was  an 
advance  upon  its  predecessors.  Again,  the  feature  of  the 
Committee's  work  calling  forth  most  discussion  was  the  Asso- 
ciation Monthly.  Ten  leading  delegates  from  Canada  and  the 
United  States  strongly  advocated  its  continuance  and  a  more 
loyal  support  from  Associations.  One  of  these  delegates, 
proprietor  and  editor  of  a  successful  city  paper,  gave  it  as  his 
opinion  that  the  achievement  of  the  first  year,  from  a  financial 
point  of  view,  was  very  encouraging.  "It  was  not  to  be  ex- 
pected," he  said,  "that  a  newspaper  would  pay  all  expenses 
the  first  or  the  second  j'ear." 

Two  Significant  Events  of  1871 

The  first  of  these  was  connected  with  securing  for  the  Asso- 
ciations executive  officers  who  would  give  their  whole  time  to 
the  work.  In  responding  to  calls  for  such  men  the  Committee 
and  its  agents  were  continuing  a  Secretarial  Bureau  or  de- 
partment, already  begun  in  the  Committee's  correspondence 
and  visitation. 

The  vocation  indeed  was  in  its  infancy.  For  eight  years, 
with  only  a  brief  intermission,  Robert  McBurney  had  been  in 
office.  He  was  a  member  of  the  International  Committee  and 
in  this  search  for  qualified  men  its  most  valued  helper.  L.  P. 
Rowland  had  been  fourteen  years  at  Boston,  but  most  of  the 
few  Association  employed  officers,  one  of  whom  at  Philadelphia 
was  John  Wanamaker,  had  served  for  a  much  briefer  period. 
One  of  these,  at  Indianapolis,  Rev.  John  B.  Brandt,  suggested 
the  calling  together  of  these  executive  officers  in  connection 
with  the  Convention  of  1871,  and  Weidensall  and  McBurney 
heartily  concurred.  It  proved  a  first  step  toward  rallying 
these  officers  themselves  as  helpers  in  defining  the  function 
and  work  of  their  vocation  and  in  seeking  the  men  needed 
for  it.  It  was  an  early  reenforcement  of  our  first  endeavors 
to  seek  and  find  Association  Secretaries.  On  the  day  after 
adjournment  at  Wasliington,  in  the  cabin  of  a  little  steamer 
full  of  delegates  on  an  excursion  to  Mount  Vernon,  a  meeting 


BEGINNING  OF  CONNECTION  WITH  ASSOCIATION  81 

of  "the  paid  officers"  present  was  held,  according  to  an  arrange- 
ment made  by  Brandt,  Weideusall,  and  others,  who  had  met 
in  conference  during  the  sessions  of  the  Convention. 

New  York,  Washington,  Boston,  Montreal  and  Toronto, 
Pittsburgh,  Buffalo,  Cleveland,  Indianapolis,  St.  Paul,  and 
Minneapolis  were  represented,  each  by  its  executive  Secretary. 
McBurney  was  chosen  to  preside  and  I  was  asked  to  act  as 
scribe  and  reporter.  Each  described  the  nature  and  activities 
of  the  office  he  held  and  evidently  each  was  "the  salaried  officer 
whose  time  was  wholly  or  in  part  devoted  to  the  work"  and 
"to  whom  the  President,  the  Board,  and  the  Committees  looked 
for  the  word  of  information  and  counsel  suggested  by  their 
closer  incessant  contact  with  the  whole  work."  There  was  no 
uniform  name  for  the  office.  Two,  from  Washington  and  Pitts- 
burgh, bore  that  of  General  Secretary.  It  seemed  best  to  the 
eleven  to  adopt  this  name  and  recommend  it  to  the  Associa- 
tions. Gradually  it  has  been  adopted  throughout  the  world  by 
the  brotherhood.  It  was  agreed  to  form  "The  Association  of 
General  Secretaries  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 
of  the  United  States  and  British  Provinces."  Eleven  local 
Association  Secretaries  signed  the  constitution  or  rules  as 
members.  "Paid  agents  or  Secretaries  of  the  International 
or  State  Committees"  were  admitted  to  full  membership  two 
years  afterward. 

The  second  new  departure  of  this  year  was  accomplished 
by  the  Pennsylvania  State  Committee  when  it  secured  Rev. 
Samuel  A.  Taggart  as  its  first  employed  officer.  He  was  the 
first  State  Secretary  in  the  brotherhood  and  began  in  this  year 
the  best  activities  and  traditions  of  that  important  office. 
Several  years  passed  away  before — owing  in  part  to  his  good 
influence  and  example  as  a  pioneer — Secretaries  of  similar 
qualification  were  secured  in  other  states. 

Close  of  an  Editorial  Experiment 

The  Committee  and  its  editor  were  coming  to  the  end  of 
the  second  year  of  the  paper  in  better  form  than  at  the  end 
of  the  first.  A  larger  portion  of  the  editor's  salary  had  been 
paid  from  the  proceeds  of  the  publication,  owing  to  a  wider 
circulation  and  more  advertisements.  An  assistant  to  help  in 
the  solicitation  of  the  latter  had  been  secured.    Notwithstand- 


82  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

ing  these  gains  I  was  coming  slowly  to  the  conclusion  that  in 
continuing  to  act  as  both  editor  and  publisher  1  was  attempt- 
ing more  than  could  be  permanently  and  satisfactorily  accom- 
plished. The  pace  of  the  work,  or  rather  the  over-work,  had 
brought  me  nearer  to  a  breakdown,  physically,  than  I  had  been 
before  or  have  been  since  that  time. 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  the  year  1871,  a  few  months  before 
my  thirtieth  birthday,  that  the  doctor  gave  me  warning  that 
his  terms  and  schedule  must  be  submitted  to  or  such  a  collapse 
would  result  as  would  make  uecessarj'^  a  complete  cessation 
from  work.  His  terms  were:  first,  eight  hours  out  of  twenty- 
four  for  sleep  or  absolute  rest;  second,  some  form  of  exercise 
during  an  interval  of  at  least  half  an  hour  each  day;  third, 
this  regime  must  begin  within  two  weeks.  Accordingly  at 
the  end  of  the  two  weeks  a  sleep  account  with  myself  was 
opened  and  kept  faithfully  for  two  years.  It  testifies  that  for 
this  period,  whenever,  under  the  many  pressures  to  which  I 
was  subjected,  eight  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four  were  not 
secured  for  sleep  or  rest,  the  deficiency  was  made  up  in  the 
period  set  apart  each  week  for  this  purpose.  This  resort  to 
a  sleep  account  was  occasioned  by  my  having  heard  that  it 
was  by  such  a  practice  that  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  during  the 
most  strenuous  years  of  his  life,  had  secured  the  amount  of 
sleep  he  needed.  For  the  daily  exercise  prescribed  by  the 
doctor,  I  did  not  at  that  time  seek  the  gymnasium,  but  re- 
sorted to  the  health  lift,  a  form  of  exercise  which  was  taken 
under  a  medical  director,  and  gave  me  what  I  needed  within 
the  half  hour  each  day  which  was  all  the  time  I  could  give. 
Obedience  to  this  regime  prevented  the  threatened  collapse. 

Growing  doubt  as  to  the  wisdom  of  attempting  to  continue 
permanently  as  both  editor  and  publisher  led  to  a  consultation 
with  those  older  and  more  successful  in  journalism.  They 
convinced  me  that  I  was  attempting  what  was  impracticable. 
The  member  of  the  Committee  who  had  been  assigned  as  its 
subcommittee  to  look  after  the  paper  and  its  editor  was  Timo- 
thy G.  Sellew,  one  of  the  strong  laymen,  who  for  many  years 
had  been  active  in  the  New  York  Association,  and  Chairman 
of  one  of  its  Branches.  To  him  as  counselor  and  friend  I  had 
been  indebted  for  brotherly  cooperation  from  the  beginning. 
He  and  the  Committee  agreed  that  we  should  endeavor  to 


BEGINNING  OF  CONNECTION  WITH  ASSOCIATION  83 

secure  a  publisher.  There  was  equal  unanimity  in  our  choice 
of  a  fit  man  in  Thomas  K.  Cree,  then  our  corresponding  mem- 
ber for  Pennsylvania  and  the  successful  Secretary  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh Association.  Before  he  became  a  Secretary  he  had  been 
a  successful  business  man.  At  our  invitation  he  came  to  New 
York  and  gave  careful  consideration  to  the  proposal  that  he 
should  undertake  the  work  of  publishing  the  Monthly.  But 
he  felt  that  his  position  and  work  in  Pittsburgh  had  prior 
claim  upon  him.  Further  search  for  a  competent  man  proved 
unsuccessful,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1871  I  presented  my  resig- 
nation to  the  Committee. 

For  four  years  I  had  been  endeavoring  to  find  in  religious 
journalism,  as  many  fellow  clergymen  had  found,  that  form 
of  life  work  for  which  I  was  best  fitted.  In  all  this  work 
there  had  been  an  experimental  element,  for  I  had  never  felt 
any  distaste  for  the  pulpit  and  the  pastorate.  Now  in  resigning 
as  editor  I  expected  to  find  that  these  arduous  years  would 
enable  me  at  the  age  of  thirty  to  prove  a  better  preacher  and 
pastor  than  if  at  the  outset  a  pastoral  choice  had  been  made 
and  followed.  This  confident  conviction  was  comforting  in 
the  serious  disappointment  experienced  in  withdrawing  from 
an  undertaking,  upon  which  so  much  time  and  energy  had  been 
expended.  Perhaps  McBurney  might  join  me  eventually.  For 
early  in  our  friendly  fellowship,  he  had  taken  counsel  with  me 
regarding  his  own  feeling  that  as  soon  (1877)  as  he  became 
forty  years  of  age,  he  would  be  too  old  to  continue  in  the  secre- 
taryship. Therefore  he  was  proposing  to  enter  on  a  course 
of  study  in  preparation  for  the  ministry  in  his  own  church. 
It  had  seemed  natural  to  him  to  seek  the  sort  of  alternative  or 
resort  which  was  open  to  me  and  the  value  of  which  he  per- 
ceived. 

A  Temporary  Offer  Received  and  Accepted 

It  was,  therefore,  with  surprise  that  I  received  from  Mr. 
Sellew,  in  an  interview  he  had  asked  for,  a  request  from  the 
Committee  to  continue  on  its  staflF,  as  a  visiting  Secretary, 
during  the  coming  winter  of  1871  and  1872,  and  until  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Convention  at  Lowell  in  the  following  June,  when 
the  second  triennial  term  of  the  Committee  would  expire  and 
a  new  Committee  might  be  appointed.    This  request  was  due 


84  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

in  part  to  the  pressure  upon  the  Committee  for  another  visit- 
ing Secretary.  What  Robert  Weidensall  had  been  accomplish- 
ing in  the  West,  and  the  many  calls  coming  from  the  South 
and  East,  united  to  make  them  feel  that  another  man  must 
be  put  in  the  field.  The  growth  of  the  correspondence  also 
had  determined  the  Committee  to  request  from  the  next  Con- 
vention the  grant  of  a  General  Secretary,  as  a  condition  of 
compliance  on  their  part  with  any  request  to  continue  in  office 
for  a  third  term  of  three  years.  They  thought  they  saw  in 
me  qualification  for  this  work  and  office.  But  of  this  I  was 
not  at  that  time  aware. 

In  regard  to  the  very  desirable  continuance  of  the  monthly 
paper  as  voted  by  the  last  Convention,  the  Committee  felt 
that  with  the  advertising  agent  and  patronage  I  had  already 
secured,  a  good  circulation  could  be  maintained  and  increased 
on  the  basis  of  the  general  interest  manifested  at  the  last  two 
Conventions.  For  editorial  leadership  a  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee was  available  in  the  person  of  Dr.  Verranus  Morse  (a 
good  fatherly  friend  but  not  a  relative),  who  had  been  for 
years  a  valued  contributor  to  Association  literature  and  to  the 
Monthly.  With  less  than  the  amount  released  by  the  discon- 
tinuance of  my  salary,  the  needed  editorial  and  office  work 
could  be  secured.  This  seemed  a  reasonable  program  and 
expectation. 

From  my  own  point  of  view  also  it  seemed  wise  to  accept  the 
Committee's  proposal.  As  an  enthusiastic  adherent  of  the 
Association  and  the  work  it  was  doing,  I  had  many  friends 
for  life  among  its  leaders  and  workers,  and  in  entering  the 
pastorate  it  would  be  with  a  desire  and  purpose  to  lend  a 
helping  hand  to  this  agency  of  the  Church,  both  evangelical 
and  interdenominational.  Such  help  my  father  and  grand- 
father were  ever  quick  to  lend,  in  the  century  through  which 
their  united  lives  had  been  passed.  It  was,  therefore,  with 
satisfaction  that  I  now  improved  an  opportunity  to  render 
during  the  coming  winter  and  spring  what  might  be  the  last 
direct  official  service  in  my  power  to  perform  in  the  work  of 
the  brotherhood,  and  under  direction  of  its  Committee. 


CHAPTER  VI 
ON  THE  PATH  TO  THE  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP 

First  Tour  as  a  Visiting  Secretary,  Dec,  1871-May,  1872 

In  carrying  out  this  new  arrangement  with  the  Committee, 
most  of  the  winter  and  spring,  beginning  December  7th,  1S71, 
was  spent  in  New  England,  New  Brnnswiclc,  and  Nova  Scotia, 
communicating  with  seventy-three  Associations,  the  great 
majority  of  which  were  visited.  Five  hundred  and  forty-three 
of  their  members,  friends,  and  representatives  were  counseled 
with.  At  each  point  visited,  the  causes  of  success  or  failure 
were  investigated.  In  the  majority  of  places  the  Associations 
were  alive  and  at  work ;  in  some  they  were  declining  and  in 
ten  places  they  had  died.  At  all  points  a  message  of  counsel 
and  help  was  welcomed.  This  message  grew  in  scope  and 
definiteness,  and  in  adaptation  to  need,  as  I  came  in  contact 
with  situations  of  increasing  variety.  What  I  said  in  ])ublic 
in  different  cities  and  towns  was  variously  reported  in  the 
local  papers.  Some  of  these  printed  reports  reached  members 
of  the  Committee  in  New  York. 

Tour  in  New  England 

The  tour  in  Connecticut  included  a  visit  to  eight  cities  and 
towns  where  Associations  were  at  work ;  to  five  cities — includ- 
ing Hartford,  Middletown,  and  Norwich — where  they  had  died, 
and  to  Willimantic,  where  no  Association  had  yet  been  formed. 
This  part  of  the  tour  occupied  five  weeks  and  gave  me  inter- 
views with  one  hundred  and  forty-six  fellow  workers  and  other 
friends.  The  first  city  visited  was  New  London,  the  residence 
of  the  Connecticut  corresponding  member  of  our  Committee, 
Newton  Fuller,  a  school  teacher.  For  two  years  he  had  been 
vigilant  in  this  office,  had  attended  most  of  the  five  State 
Conventions  which  already  had  been  held  in  Connecticut,  and 
was  in  correspondence  with  the  Associations.  I  had  met  him 
the  previous  October  at  the  last  of  these  State  Conventions. 
There  were,  he  said,  twenty-three  Associations  surviving  in 

85 


86  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Connecticut,  while  nearly  double  that  number  had  been  in 
existence  since  the  first  one  was  formed  in  1858.  "Many  of 
these  Associations/'  he  said,  "spring  into  existence  like  Jonah's 
gourd,  and  decline  and  die  as  quickly."  But  he  had  strong 
faith  that  a  better  day  was  coming. 

Jonathan  Harris,  a  public  spirited  citizen,  and  former 
Mayor  of  New  London,  was  a  member  of  the  State  Committee. 
At  a  meeting  in  his  house  with  some  of  his  fellow  members, 
Mr.  Harris  was  led  to  become  Chairman  of  the  State  Com- 
mittee. Its  Secretary,  C.  M.  Wilcox,  consented  to  become  its 
employed  officer  and  spent  a  few  months  in  visiting  the  Asso- 
ciations in  the  state,  beginning  the  trip  in  my  company.  "This 
resulted"  during  the  year,  to  quote  Mr.  Fuller's  report,  "in 
more  Association  work  being  done  in  the  state  than  ever  be- 
fore." The  State  Committee,  however,  did  not  prove  able  at 
that  time  to  keep  a  permanent  State  Secretary.  Mr.  Harris 
continued  to  take  an  active  interest  in  Association  work  until 
the  close  of  his  life.  When  the  International  Committee  secured 
its  Act  of  Incorporation  in  1883  he  was  named  in  it  as  one 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  served  as  the  first  Chairman  of 
the  Board  for  ten  years — 1884-1894.  In  his  will  he  bequeathed 
12,000  to  the  Committee. 

In  Rhode  Island,  at  Providence,  Bristol,  and  Westerly, 
active  Associations  were  visited.  At  Pawtucket  one  was  re- 
organized, but  a  similar  restoration  could  not  be  accomplished 
at  Woonsocket.  Over  forty  of  the  friends  active  in  the  work 
in  these  cities  were  interviewed.  Among  them  was  Edwin  R. 
Holden,  who  for  five  years  had  been  the  Committee's  corre- 
sponding member.  He  had  called  and  organized  the  five  State 
Conventions  of  Rhode  Island  held  during  that  period. 

In  Maine  four  weeks  were  spent — March  24th  to  April  22nd 
— in  visiting  eleven  cities  where  Associations  were  at  work, 
and  where  a  serious  decline  had  begun.  The  work  had  been 
abandoned  in  three  places,  including  Bangor — like  Hartford, 
the  second  city  in  its  state.  Over  one  hundred  and  sixty 
friends  were  found,  either  interested,  or  ready  to  be  inter- 
ested in  the  work.  Only  five  of  the  eleven  Associations  had 
reading  rooms.  A  larger  number  were  conducting  Sunday 
schools.  All  were  holding  union  prayer  meetings,  and  engag- 
ing in  other  forms  of  general  Christian  work. 


ON  THE  PATH  TO  THE  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP         87 

Diiriug  these  weeks  a  remarkable  temperance  revival  was 
prevailing  in  Augusta,  Hallowell,  and  a  number  of  neighboring 
cities.  It  was  my  only  experience  of  a  revival  of  this  nature. 
Hundreds  of  men  were  signing  the  pledge.  It  was  not  a  reli- 
gious movement.  "The  expulsive  power"  of  that  "new  affec- 
tion" created  by  the  Christian  faith  was  not  invoked.  It  was 
a  movement  away  from  the  saloon  and  intemperance,  and  men 
were  joining  it  by  a  negative  pledge.  I  was  invited  to  speak 
at  the  rousing  meetings  which  were  being  held,  and  presented 
the  Gospel  and  its  constructive  message.  Hundreds  were  leav- 
ing the  saloon — for  a  time — but  it  was  sadly  apparent  that 
there  was  a  pitiful  lack  of  adequate  provision  made  for  that 
social  need  and  craving  which  in  the  beginning  had  drawn 
many  of  the  saloon's  victims  to  that  place  of  peril  and  disaster. 

In  one  city,  on  its  principal  street,  I  entered  a  long  narrow 
bare  room,  lately  used  as  a  store.  It  was  now  rented  as  an 
evening  resort  for  those  men  who  had  signed  the  pledge.  At 
the  far  end  of  the  room  was  a  fireplace.  Logs  of  wood  were 
being  brought  in  by  some  of  the  men.  The  blazing  fire  on  the 
hearth  was  welcome,  but  it  was  the  only  feature  of  comfort 
in  the  room.  The  whole  situation  presented  what  seemed  an 
irresistible  appeal  for  that  Christian  hospitality  which  our 
Associations  were  created  to  extend  to  these  hundreds  of 
young  men  in  this  and  other  hours  of  their  need  and  of  our 
opportunity.  To  rouse  public  spirited  citizens  to  do  our  kind 
of  work  was  not  the  objective  of  the  leaders  of  this  temperance 
movement,  and  I  could  not  then  find  a  place  for  an  Associa- 
tion, nor  among  our  workers  a  man  to  take  charge  of  it.  The 
experience  made  upon  me  an  ineffaceable  impression  of  the 
urgent  need,  in  antagonizing  the  saloon,  of  concentrating  the 
energies  of  the  Association  upon  its  constructive  social  and 
substitutional  program  of  welcome  and  hospitality  to  young 
men,  as  "the  most  important  and  the  most  neglected  class"  in 
our  cities  and  other  communities. 

In  New  England  the  Association  had  been  planted  for 
twenty  years.  The  forty  Associations  which  still  existed  in 
the  three  states  I  had  visited,  were  survivors  of  many  more 
than  double  that  number,  which  had  been  in  existence.  Only 
a  minority  had  reading  or  social  rooms  for  young  men.  Most 
of  the  effort  had  been  expended  on  prayer  meetings,  evangelis- 


88  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

tic  meetings,  Sunday  schools,  and  other  general  Christian 
work.  This  work  now  was  being  done  by  laymen,  who  in  due 
time  turned  their  energies  to  a  wise  concentration  upon  work 
for  young  men.  At  that  time  such  concentration  was  being 
more  fully  accomplished  in  New  York  City  than  elsewhere,  and 
it  was  on  the  way  to  achievement  at  a  few  points  in  New  Eng- 
land. In  this  connection  it  was  becoming  clear  that,  as  a  first 
condition  of  success  on  this  line,  these  groups  of  capable  lay- 
men must  each  secure  an  employed  officer  who  should  give  his 
entire  time  and  attention  to  the  work  of  enlisting  more  lay 
workers,  and  organizing  them  into  a  program  of  more  efficient 
work.  The  reaching  of  this  conclusion  by  them  had  been  and 
was  being  delayed. 

Many  Associations  had  failed  because  of  two  prevailing 
tendencies  which  needed  correction.  One  of  these  was  a  fatal 
dependence  on  a  reading  room  as  of  itself  sufficient  to  attract 
and  hold  men  in  competition  with  the  social  attractions  of  the 
saloon.  Under  this  misleading  impression  many  reading 
rooms  had  been  opened.  I  visited  a  small  manufacturing  city 
where,  at  very  considerable  expense,  a  reading  room  had  been 
well  furnished  with  foreign  magazines  and  excellent  American 
periodicals,  and  the  donors  of  the  money  needed  had  been  led 
to  expect  that  it  would  attract  and  hold  the  young  men.  Few 
of  the  employes  and  other  young  men  for  whom  it  had  been 
established,  resorted  to  it,  and  it  had  proved  a  conspicuous 
failure.  This  and  similar  ex})eriences  in  many  other  places 
had  discredited  the  name  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation. Many  times  I  was  asked  whether  it  would  not  be  the 
part  of  wisdom  to  abandon  the  name,  and  under  another  title 
establish  the  more  creditable  and  useful  work  which  I  de- 
scribed, and  the  worthy  and  desirable  character  of  which  was 
conceded. 

Another  erroneous  impression  was  that  the  larger  amount 
of  money  needed  for  the  salary  of  an  employed  officer  would 
be  more  difficult  to  raise  than  the  smaller  amount  now  needed 
for  a  work  carried  on  wholly  by  volunteers.  In  reality,  how- 
ever, the  i)resence  and  cooperation  of  such  an  employed  officer 
made  possible  a  program  which  comnuinded  the  larger  sum 
more  easily  than  a  smaller  amount  could  be  secured  for  the 
less  satisfactory  work. 


ON  THE  PATH  TO  THE  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP         89 

Tour  in  Nova  Scotia 

In  the  province  of  Nova  Scotia,  five  weeks  of  the  tour  were 
spent  in  visiting  seventeen  places,  including  the  cities  of  Hali- 
fax, Truro,  Yarmouth,  and  Amherst.  Sixty  Associations  then 
existed  in  this  province.  Four  years  before  only  one  was  at 
work.  This  remarkable  growth  was  due  to  the  initiative  of 
John  S.  Maclean,  a  prominent  merchant  of  Halifax.  His  busi- 
ness made  it  necessary  for  him  to  travel  throughout  the  prov- 
ince. At  the  International  Convention  of  1867  in  Montreal 
he  was  a  delegate  and  was  profoundly  impressed  by  the  ac- 
tivity and  leadership  in  Christian  work  of  some  of  his  fellow 
delegates,  who  were  also  prominent  in  the  business  world.  The 
message,  bearing,  and  standing  of  William  E.  Dodge,  Jr.,  from 
New  York  City,  made  a  special  appeal  to  him.  On  his  return 
to  Halifax,  and  during  his  travels  in  business,  he  began  making 
it  also  his  business  to  enlist  laymen  in  the  work.  With  their 
cooi)eration  he  succeeded  in  gradually  planting  Associations 
in  cities  and  towns  and  in  enlisting  a  growing  number  of 
workers. 

Soon  he  was  ably  seconded  by  another  citizen  of  Halifax, 
James  B.  Morrow^,  agent  in  that  city  of  the  Cunard  Line  of 
steamers.  The  w^ork  of  these  Canadian  laymen  had  led  to  the 
organization  of  Associations  in  cities,  towns,  and  country 
places.  Those  established  in  rural  communities  had  become 
more  numerous  than  in  any  equal  extent  of  territory  on  the 
continent.  If  the  present  (11)16)  form  of  county  and  rural 
organization,  with  its  permanent  qualified  ofilcer,  had  been 
available  at  that  time,  this  good  work  begun  by  volunteer 
eft'ort  could  speedily  have  been  fostered  into  permanent  grow- 
ing efficiency. 

In  the  county  of  Pictou  there  were  thirty-three  Associations. 
Beginning  at  the  city  of  I'ictou,  with  Howard  and  Clarence 
Primrose  and  some  associates,  meetings  were  held  in  eight 
of  these  small  Associations,  and  representatives  from  eighteen 
other  Associations  in  this  little  county  were  counseled  with.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  tour  in  Halifax  I  was  warmly  welcomed 
as  a  guest  by  Morrow,  and  had  the  company  and  help  of  Mac- 
lean in  a  number  of  the  places  visited. 

We  were  at  Truro  together,  at  the  largest  meeting  of  the 


90  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

tour,  held  on  the  evening  of  a  Thanksgiving  Day  in  February. 
This  day  was  being  observed  throughout  the  British  Empire 
in  grateful  recognition  of  the  recovery  from  very  serious  illness 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  afterward  King  Edward  VII,  who 
was  then  in  the  prime  of  life  at  the  age  of  thirty-one.  We  were 
born  within  a  few  days  of  one  another.  An  enthusiastic 
audience  had  been  called  together,  and  earnest  prayer  was 
offered  for  the  young  man  whose  life  had  been  preserved,  that 
he  might  become  qualified  and  disposed  to  improve  the  finest 
and  widest  oi)portunity  for  the  service  of  his  fellowmen,  as  a 
sovereign,  offered  to  any  young  man  of  his  generation. 

In  Mr.  Morrow's  home,  in  the  i)rivacy  of  his  study,  occurred 
a  conversation  one  Sunday  evening  which  at  that  time  pro- 
foundly interested  me.  Together  we  had  spent  some  days  in 
Christian  work  and  fellowship.  Quite  suddenly,  and  in  a 
somewhat  regretful  tone,  he  said,  "Mr.  Morse,  did  you  ever 
meet  a  man  without  a  country?"  ''No,"  I  replied,  "I  have 
read  of  such  a  man  in  a  story  which  I  regarded  as  a  work  of 
fiction."  ''Well,"  said  he,  "you  are  meeting  such  a  man  now. 
As  a  citizen  of  Protestant  Nova  Scotia,  and  a  British  subject, 
I  was  fully  content.  But  of  a  political  union  with  the  larger, 
stronger,  and  preponderatingly  Romanist,  province  of  Quebec, 
I  am  so  apprehensive  that  I  am  completely  out  of  sympathy 
with  the  creation  of  the  Dominion,  of  which  I  am  most  reluc- 
tantly a  citizen."  He  was  not  spared  to  live  into  this  better 
period  when  all  Canada  has  come  under  the  power  of  a  mighty 
national  spirit  and  is  manifestly  destined  to  become  one  of 
the  greater  nationalities  of  the  world. 

This  tour  was  terminated  in  April,  some  weeks  earlier  than 
had  been  contemplated,  owing  to  an  invitation  and  request 
which  I  received  to  spend  the  summer  in  Europe,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  health  of  one  of  my  nephews.  In  my  absence 
from  New  York,  his  parents  approached  the  Committee  on 
the  subject.  So  much  of  my  errand  had  been  accomplished 
and  the  Convention  date,  ending  our  agreement  and  ending 
also  the  Committee's  term  of  service,  was  so  near  that  they 
were  willing  to  join  me  in  assenting  to  the  plan  and  change 
proposed. 

On  my  return  to  New  York  in  April,  to  set  out  on  this 
journey,  I  prepared  a  careful  report  of  the  Association  visita- 


ON  THE  PATH  TO  THE  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP         91 

tion  which  I  had  accomplished,  giving  a  tabulated  statement 
of  all  the  towns  and  cities  visited,  and  enumerating  the  causes 
of  success  and  failure  of  the  Associations  in  them.  This  report 
closes  with  these  words:  "This  instructive  tour  has  deepened 
my  conviction  of  the  importance  and  value  of  our  societies. 
Like  all  good  enterprises  that  struggle  through  trial  and 
experiment  toward  their  final  form  of  usefulness,  they  have 
met  with  trouble,  and  occasional  disaster.  But  never  before 
were  there  so  many  well  established,  vigorous  Associations, 
and  never  before  did  they  give  fairer  promise  of  promoting  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ  among  young  men." 

'"The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  As  It  Is'' 

The  World's  Conference  was  to  meet  that  summer  in  Amster- 
dam, Holland.  The  friends  of  McBurney  had  been  planning 
for  him  such  an  opportunity  for  rest  and  recreation  as  would 
be  afforded  by  a  trip  abroad.  My  first  errand  was  to  be 
finished  before  the  date,  in  August,  of  the  Conference  in  Am- 
sterdam. So  we  agreed  to  meet  in  London  and  go  to  the 
Conference  together. 

After  I  finished  my  report  for  the  Committee,  and  before 
I  left  New  York  in  May,  McBurney  called  my  attention  to 
some  newspaper  clippings  in  his  possession,  giving  more  or 
less  extended  reports  of  what  I  had  said  in  some  of  the  cities 
on  my  recent  tour,  in  advocacy  of  the  Association  and  its 
work.  "Will  you  not,"  he  said,  "while  on  your  journey,  write 
out  for  me,  more  fully,  the  substance  of  your  plea  for  the 
Associations?  It  will  be  serviceable  in  some  more  permanent 
form."  Accordingly,  during  our  ten  days  on  the  ocean  this 
request  was  complied  with.  To  what  I  had  written  the  title,^ 
"The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  As  It  Is"  was  given 
and  it  was  mailed  to  McBurney  on  our  arrival  in  Europe. 
Upon  reading  it  he  at  once  sent  it  to  the  printer,  and  it  was 
issued  during  my  absence  in  pamphlet  form  as  one  of  the 
documents  presented  by  the  Committee  for  circulation  at  the 
Lowell  Convention. 

From  the  closing  paragraph  the  following  sentences  are 
tal^n: 

"The  principal  forms  of  effort  have  been   enumerated   in 

>Pp.  Ill,  202. 


92  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

which  for  the  past  twenty  years  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations  have  carried  on  their  work.  The  religious  in- 
spiration and  enthusiasm  which  is  the  motive  power  of  the 
workers  has  had  its  source  in  personal  love  and  devotion  to 
their  divine  Lord.  In  His  name  and  for  Him  the  work  has 
been  undertaken ;  to  bring  men  to  the  knowledge  of  His 
abounding  grace  it  has  been  prosecuted,  upon  His  help  and 
symi)athy  those  who  are  active  in  it  have  relied,  and  in  closer 
communion  with  Him  they  have  realized  their  fellowship  with 
one  another.  Active  and  faithful  in  the  churches  to  which 
they  belong,  they  have  frankl}^  respected  the  things  in  which 
thej^  differ,  but  in  the  Association  their  aim  is  to  magnify  the 
faith,  the  hope  and  the  love  in  which  they  are  agreed  and  to 
find  in  these  the  inspiration  for  that  work  which  they  can 
best  accomplish  unitedly.  By  fraternal  sympathy  and  co- 
operation they  have  sought  to  honor  the  name  of  the  Master 
who  said :  'By  this  shall  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples 
if  ye  have  love  one  to  another.' 

The  institution  is  still  in  its  infancy.  What  has  been  done 
in  defining  and  extending  it  is  only  the  beginning  of  a  good 
enterprise.  None  feel  this  more  deeply  than  those  who  thus 
far  have  been  most  active  and  devoted  in  the  work.  But  its 
steady  growth,  its  present  strength  and.  activity,  and  the 
divine  blessing  which  has  so  constantly  attended  it  combine 
to  give  fair  promise  that  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion is  to  grow  in  power  and  usefulness  until  its  influence  for 
good  is  felt  in  every  part  of  the  continent." 

The  Lowell  Convention 
1872 

The  International  Committee,  then  consisting  of  seven 
members,  all  resident  in  New  York  City  and  Brooklyn,  brought 
its  report  to  the  Lowell  Convention  (June  12-16,  1872)  at  the 
end  of  its  second  term  of  three  years.  It  is  the  only  Inter- 
national Convention  I  failed  to  attend  between  1870  and  1917. 

To  this  Committee  since  its  election  in  1860,  the  Conventions 
had  already  granted  a  term,  three  times  longer  than  had  been 
given  to  any  of  its  predecessors.  Would  the  brotherhood  con- 
tinue at  Lowell  this  radical  new  departure? 

Before  leaving  New  York  for  the  Convention,  the  members  of 
the  Committee  agreed  that  any  serious  opposition  to  their  con- 
tinuance in  office  would  call  from  them  immediate  and  positive 
refusal  of  a  reelection.  The  reports  of  Weidensall  and  myself 
formed  part  of  the  Committee's  report.    Mine  consisted  of  an 


ON  THE  PATH  TO  THE  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP         93 

account  of  the  four  months'  work  in  New  England  and  Nova 
Scotia.  Weidensall  gave  account  of  his  fourth  year  of  work — 
the  best  he  had  yet  achieved.  He  had  "traveled  13,050  miles, 
stopped  in  112  cities  and  towns,  visited  42  Associations,  pre- 
pared the  way  for  18  new  organizations."  Among  the  places 
visited  were  St.  Louis,  Louisville,  Wheeling,  Baltimore,  and 
Washington ;  New  York,  where  he  spent  two  weeks  in  the  study 
of  the  work;  Richmond.  Lynchburg,  Wilmington,  Charleston, 
Savannah,  Selma,  Mobile,  New  Orleans,  and  seven  Student 
Associations,  the  oldest  of  the  seven,  at  the  University  of 
Virginia,  dating  from  1857.  There  the  name  was  about  to  be 
given  up  by  the  students  under  the  mistaken  impression,  which 
he  removed,  that  "it  would  not  be  recognized  by  town  and  city 
Associations!"  The  previous  year  he  had  visited  eight  colleges 
and  universities  of  the  middle  West,  promoting  Associations 
in  them. 

The  Committee's  report — drafted  bj-  Mr.  Brainerd,  as  were 
all  its  reports  during  the  twenty-five  years  of  his  chairman- 
ship, thus  alludes  to  the  work  of  its  two  agents:  "The  agents 
representing  the  Committee,  Robert  Weideusall  and  Richard 
C.  Morse,  have  performed  a  most  effective  service  the  past  year, 
.  .  .  The  Committee  desire  the  Convention  to  hear  each  report. 
Messrs.  Weideusall  and  Morse  are  thoroughly  conversant  with 
all  our  work,  in  all  its  phases,  fully  informed  in  the  particulars 
of  the  history  of  the  Association,  which  is  to  such  a  consider- 
able extent  traditional,  and  able  to  cope  with  the  difficulties 
presented  on  the  field.  This  is  counted  by  your  Committee  as 
an  advance.  Six  years  ago  it  would  have  been  next  to  im- 
I)Ossible  to  find  one  man  who  could  be  trusted  as  a  representa- 
tive of  the  Committee  and  who  was  willing  to  undertake  the 
employment  of  visitation.  It  is  believed  that  these  two  gentle- 
men should  be  continued  in  the  work  they  have  prosecuted  so 
well.  ,  .  .  No  one  can  do  this  work  well  who  is  unacquainted 
with  the  history  of  the  Associations,  and  with  the  literature 
which  their  existence  has  evoked.  He  must  be  wise,  prudent, 
pious;  a  sensible  and  correct  speaker,  with  a  faculty  for  or- 
ganization, as  well  as  exhortation;  one  who  can  answer  objec- 
tions and  avoid  difficulties,  and  influence  individual  men,  as 
well  as  conduct  mass  and  prayer  meetings." 

The  Committee  on   the  International  Committee's   Report 


94  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

proposed  the  reelection  of  the  Committee  for  a  third  term  of 
three  years.  In  the  discussion  which  followed,  amendments 
suggesting  a  change  were  offered,  and  the  members  of  the 
Committee,  in  accord  with  their  previous  agreement  among 
themselves,  declined  reelection.  Then  followed  further  dis- 
cussion which  developed  more  fully  the  mind  of  the  Conven- 
tion. Delegates  from  principal  cities,  including  Boston, 
Chicago,  Cincinnati,  Washington,  and  Philadelphia,  united  in 
urging  the  members  of  the  Committee  to  reconsider  and  to 
accept  a  reelection.  This  was  so  urgently  pressed  upon  them, 
that  finally  the  call  came  without  a  dissenting  vote.  So  they 
"receded  from  the  determination  formed  after  full  conference 
in  New  York  before  coming  to  the  Convention."  "We  yield," 
they  said  in  a  written  communication,  "to  your  unanimous 
request,  and  the  expression  of  your  confidence  both  formally 
and  privately  made." 

The  continuance  of  the  Association  Monthly  was  voted,  and 
the  Committee  was  authorized  to  employ  a  General  Secretary. 
In  the  negotiations  with  reference  to  the  reelection  of  the 
Committee  it  had  been  stipulated  as  a  condition  of  the  Com- 
mittee's acceptance  that  the  Convention  would  authorize  the 
securing  of  this  Secretary,  who  was  now  urgently  needed. 

As  a  further  mark  of  its  confidence  in  its  Committee,  the 
Convention  gave  it  the  following  discretion :  "Upon  an  emer- 
gency requiring  immediate  action  the  Committee  may  adopt 
such  measures  as  may  be  necessary,  not  inconsistent  with  the 
action  of  previous  Conventions,  reporting  the  same  to  the  next 
succeeding  Convention  for  its  approval."  This  was  a  discre- 
tion, the  exercise  of  which,  whenever  emergencies  have  caused 
the  Committee  to  act  upon  it,  has  been  invariably  approved 
by  succeeding  Conventions  and  the  discretion  has  never  been 
revoked  or  the  wisdom  of  it  seriously  questioned. 

Though  the  Lowell  Convention  was  attended  by  a  smaller 
number  of  delegates  than  any  one  of  its  five  predecessors,  the 
leaders  in  previous  Conventions  were  fully  represented.  Thane 
Miller  presided  for  the  fourth  time.  Never  since  has  a  change 
of  location  for  its  Committee  been  debated  on  the  floor  of  any 
Convention.  In  1875,  1877,  1879,  and  1881  the  Committee  was 
reelected  and  the  number  of  its  members  gradually  increased 
to  twenty-nine.    To  the  Convention  of  1883,  according  to  the 


ON  THE  PATH  TO  THE  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP         95 

instruction  of  its  predecessor,  was  submitted  an  act  of  the 
New  York  State  Legislature  incorporating  the  Committee. 
By  the  adoption  of  this  act,  that  Convention  elected  a  Com- 
mittee of  thirtj^-three,  an  Advisory  Board  of  nine,  and  a  Board 
of  Trustees  of  fifteen  members. 

To  this  and  the  previous  Conventions  Weidensall  had  re- 
ported visits  to  Student  Associations  formed  or  forming  in 
fifteen  colleges  and  universities.  No  special  attention  was 
given  by  the  Convention  to  this  noteworthy  feature  of  its 
agent's  report.  But  he  was  listened  to  by  five  young  under- 
graduate delegates  who  represented  three  of  these  Student 
Associations.  From  them  no  recorded  word  was  heard.  Yet 
to  one  Of  these  youthful  delegates,  Luther  D.  Wishard,  many 
future  Conventions  were  to  listen  eagerly,  giving  earnest  heed 
to  what  he  should  say  concerning  Student  Association  work. 
He  now  represented  Hanover  College,  Indiana,  an  Association 
which  Weidensall  had  reported  the  previous  year.  More  than 
once  I  have  heard  this  student  delegate  tell  the  story  of  his 
coming  to  Lowell,  to  attend  his  first  Association  Convention. 
He  insisted  that  no  greener  country  boy  than  he  then  was 
ever  came  as  a  delegate  to  such  a  meeting.  Weidensall  had 
made  a  profound  impression  upon  the  students  at  Hanover, 
and  when  the  call  to  the  Lowell  Convention  was  received  it 
was  determined  that  a  delegate  must  be  sent.  Some  of  the 
money  needed  for  expenses  was  obtained,  but  Wishard  was 
able  to  go  only  because  he  was  willing  to  devote  the  rest  of 
the  summer  to  earn  what  was  lacking  in  the  fund  provided 
for  his  expenses.  It  was  for  him  a  first  and  memorable  jour- 
ney. He  carried  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Weidensall  from 
the  student  President,  saying  he  was  ''a  man  of  the  right 
stamp."  He  was  profoundly  impressed  by  the  entire  proceed- 
ings. To  him  it  appeared  to  be  the  convention  of  an  already 
great  brotherhood,  under  the  leadership  of  great  men.  The 
thought  that  this  work  and  organization  was  one  peculiarly 
adapted  to  students  was  firmly  planted  in  his  mind.  But  that 
promotion  of  it  was  to  consume  his  energies  for  many  years 
did  not  enter  his  mind  and  life  until  some  time  later,  and 
long  after  his  enthusiastic  report  of  the  Convention's  proceed- 
ings was  given  by  him  to  his  fellow  students. 

Forty-five  years  afterward,  in  1915,  a  letter  was  received 


96  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

from  my  friend  Bishop  W.  R,  Lambnth  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  South,  another  student  at  the  Lowell  Convention. 
It  contained  the  following  testimony : 

"I  was  one  of  the  two  delegates  from  Emory  and  Henry 
College  to  the  International  Convention  held  at  Lowell,  Massa- 
chusetts in  1872.  We  went  through  the  influence  of  Robert 
Weidensall,  who  visited  our  college  that  year.  I  had  organ- 
ized a  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  at  the  college, 
wiiich  in  turn  established  some  five  Sunday  schools  in  the 
country,  one  of  them  for  colored  children.  This  work  was  in 
addition  to  what  we  were  trying  to  do  among  the  students. 
.  .  .  We  were  so  anxious  to  go  to  Lowell  and  yet  our  funds 
were  so  scant,  that  Mr..  J.  I*.  Brown  and  I  had  determined  to 
walk  from  Emory,  Virginia.  We  nmnaged  to  secure  some 
help,  however,  by  selling  furniture  and  books,  together  with 
some  supplementary  aid  from  home,  and  made  the  journey  by 
rail.  .  .  .  My  recollection  of  the  Lowell  Convention  is  one 
which  conveys  the  impression  to  this  day  of  the  intense  ear- 
nestness of  the  leaders,  the  evident  interest  they  had  in  young 
men  and  in  student  life,  and  the  power  of  intercessory  prayer. 
I  am  sure  that  the  Convention  gave  us  an  impulse  and  an 
inspiration  which  were  never  lost,  but  found  exi)ression  in 
service  among  our  fellow  students  in  college,  upon  our  return, 
and  in  other  fields  later  on  in  life.  .  .  . 

Doctor  Harlan  I*.  Beach  and  I  share  the  honor  of  having 
organized  the  first  two  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 
among  students  in  the  Chinese  Empire.  He  was  at  Tung 
Chow  and  I  at  Peking. 

I  thank  God  for  your  selection,  at  the  time  of  the  Lowell 
Convention,  as  General  Secretary,  and  have  never  lost  the  con- 
viction that  the  choice  was  one  which  was  reached  through 
the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

At  the  Committee  meeting  during  the  Convention  it  was 
voted  to  ask  me  to  take  this  new  office  of  General  Secretary 
and  McBuruey  was  commissioned  to  carry  this  request  to  me, 
when  we  met  in  Europe. 

Tour  in  Europe 

1872 

Meanwhile  during  May,  1872,  I  had  crossed  the  ocean  in  a 
German  steamer  with  my  nephew,  Richard  Morse  Colgate. 
He  was  then  a  student  preparing  to  enter  Yale  College,  from 
which  he  graduated  in  1877.    He  is  now  a  prominent  Christian 


ON  THE  PATH  TO  THE  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP  97 

merchant,  the  head  of  the  firm  of  Colgate  and  Conii)any,  and 
has  been  for  over  thirty  years  an  active  member  of  the  Inter- 
national Committee,  where  his  son  Henry  (Yale,  1913)  has 
now  joined  him.  His  younger  brother  Gilbert  Colgate  (Yale, 
1884)  is  Treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Landing  at  Cherbourg,  we  entered  Italy  by  way  of  Nice  and 
the  marvellously  beautiful  Cornice  Road.  In  making  prepara- 
tion for  the  trip  it  was  stipulated  that  its  main  object  should 
be  the  bodily  invigoration  of  both  travelers.  To  this  end  six 
weeks  must  be  spent  in  mountain  climbing,  chiefly  in  Switzer- 
land, and  the  remainder  of  the  time  as  I  might  prefer.  So 
we  began  with  Pisa,  Florence,  and  Rome.  The  last  named 
city  very  recently  had  become  the  capital  of  the  new  Kingdom 
of  United  Italy,  under  the  rule  of  Victor  Emmanuel.  I*rotes- 
tant  worship,  under  permission  and  protection  of  the  law,  was 
still  a  novelty  within  the  walls  of  the  Eternal  City.  On  Sun- 
day we  attended  a  Union  Service  in  a  small  audience  room. 
Dr.  Herrick  Johnson,  afterward  for  many  years  a  professor 
in  McCormick  Theological  Seminary,  Chicago,  gave  us  an 
impressive  sermon  on  the  text  "Enoch  walked  with  God."  It 
was  followed  by  a  solemn  communion  service. 

I  never  enjoyed  sightseeing  abroad  more  than  in  this  first 
visit  to  Rome.  Its  most  interesting  incidents  were  connected 
with  our  joining,  for  several  days,  a  small  class  of  tourists 
under  the  care  of  a  very  competent  guide,  Shakespeare  Wood, 
who  was  then  correspondent  at  Rome  of  the  London  Times, 
and  also  in  touch  with  the  authorities  conducting  excavations 
where  some  interesting  recent  discoveries  had  been  made. 
Part  of  one  day  he  spent  with  us  in  the  Forum,  describing  the 
principal  structures  which  had  been  successively  placed  upon 
it,  beginning  with  the  house  of  Numa  Pompilius,  the  second 
King  of  Rome.  What  was  left  of  these  buildings  and  statues 
he  pointed  out,  calling  attention  to  a  recent  discovery  which 
had  made  plain,  beyond  controversy,  the  path  through  the 
Forum  which  was  followed  by  those  who  bore  the  body  of 
Julius  Caesar  from  the  Senate  Chamber,  where  he  had  been 
murdered,  to  the  front  of  the  Temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux, 
where,  before  it  was  burned,  Mark  Antony  delivered  the  ora- 
tion with  which,  from  boyhood,  I  had  been  as  familiar  as  with 
the  Shorter  Catechism! 


98  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Another  day  he  took  us  to  the  Palatine  Hill  and  to  what 
was  left  of  the  jjalaces  of  the  Caesars  and  told  us  how,  before 
Caesar's  day,  that  was  the  hill  where  the  plebeians  lived. 
Augustus  Caesar,  after  the  decisive  battle  of  Actium,  wrote 
to  his  lawyer  in  Rome  to  buy  him  a  house  and  home  on  the 
Palatine,  among  the  people  whose  favor  he  was  seeking  on 
his  path  to  become  their  first  Emperor.  Beginning  with  what 
still  remains  of  this  house  of  Augustus,  Mr.  Wood  told  the 
story  of  the  palaces,  the  wrecks  of  which  he  made  interesting 
and  magnificent  to  our  unsophisticated  eyes.  A  third  day  we 
wandered  with  him  down  the  Appian  Way,  along  which  Paul 
and  perhaps  Peter,  and  certainly  many  other  saints,  had  ap- 
proached the  city,  which  began  to  be  described  by  the  name 
"Holy"  centuries  after  it  had  been  called  "Imperial"  and 
"Eternal." 

Here,  too,  he  led  us  back  beyond  the  time  of  the  republic 
to  the  era  of  the  Kings  of  Rome.  "It  is  an  era,"  he  said,  "which 
some  scholars  are  calling  legendary,  but  some  of  the  monu- 
ments here  and  elsewhere  lead  archeologists  to  hesitate  to 
accept  this  theory."  He  then  pointed  out  a  number  of  monu- 
ments which  convinced  him  and  other  archeologists  that  they 
were  right  in  refusing  to  regard  this  kingly  period  and  its 
records  as  belonging  to  the  realm  of  folklore  and  legend,  and 
not  to  authentic  history.  This  archeological  review  of  the 
story  of  ancient  Rome — a  story  which  I  had  read  and  studied 
from  boyhood,  but  in  a  somber  environment  totally  different 
from  the  one  I  was  now  enjoying — was  interesting  and  excit- 
ing enough  to  place  the  recollection  of  it  among  my  pleasantest 
experiences  in  travel. 

We  reached  Switzerland  by  way  of  the  Tyrol,  going  from 
Verona  over  the  quiet  Brenner  Pass  to  Meran,  pedestrians 
with  no  lofty  Alpine  ambitions.  Our  fourth  pass  was  the 
Splugen.  By  this  we  again  entered  Italy,  traversing  Lakes 
Como  and  Maggiore,  visiting  Milan  and  returning  northward 
over  the  Simplon  to  Visp  and  Zermatt,  in  the  heart  of  the 
snow  mountains,  and  in  the  presence  of  Monte  Rosa  and  the 
Matterhorn.    We  were  no  longer  humble  pedestrians. 

We  were  eager  to  ascend  some  lofty  snow  mountain,  and 
selected  the  Col  d'Herens — 11,500  feet — as  the  height  of  our 
ambition.     Thus  far  one  guide  had  been  sufficient,  but  now 


Richard  C.  Morse  and  Riihard  M.  Colgate,  i.\  SwiTZERr.Axn,  1872 


ON  THE  PATH  TO  THE  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP         99 

two  were  necessary,  with  a  rope  connecting  the  four  climbers. 
It  was  gloriously  clear  starlight,  when  we  set  out  from  Zer- 
matt  at  1  a.  m.  After  two  hours  the  eastern  horizon  began 
to  grow  bright  and  we  were  apprehensive  that  our  guides  had 
not  called  us  long  enough  before  sunrise,  but  were  quieted  by 
the  assurance  that  it  was  the  white  light  of  the  coming  moon 
which  we  saw.  This  beautiful  light  was  soon  shed  over  a 
wide  region  of  lofty  mountains,  with  every  part  of  the  horizon, 
except  the  bare  rocky  wall  of  the  Matterhorn,  covered  with 
snow.  Towering  higher  was  the  distant  Monte  Rosa  and 
nearer  the  Matterhorn,  under  the  shadow  of  which  we  were 
climbing,  the  snowy  side  of  the  Col.  d'Herens.  On  the  summit 
we  were  within  2,000  feet  of  the  rocky  peak  of  the  greater 
mountain. 

A  few  hours  later  the  white  light  on  the  eastern  horizon 
began  to  receive  a  rosy  tint,  and  the  sun  came  up  without  a 
cloud  visible  in  the  sky.  It  was  one  of  the  two  most  exhilarat- 
ing days  of  our  five  weeks  in  Switzerland  and  brought  us  into 
sympathy  with  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Alpine  climbers  of  many 
nations. 

After  a  tramp  of  fourteen  hours,  we  reached  our  destination 
in  the  valley  of  Sion  and  our  guides  took  occasion  to  assure 
us  that  we  were  both  in  excellent  trim  to  make  the  ascent  of 
Mt.  Blanc,  the  highest  mountain  in  Europe.  We  knew  that 
they  ranked  among  the  best  guides  in  Switzerland.  One  of 
them  was  Peter  Taugwalder.  He  and  his  father  were  two 
of  the  guides  who  conducted  the  party  which  in  a  recent  year 
had  made  the  first  ascent  of  the  Matterhorn.  Both  of  our 
guides  had  made  the  ascent  of  Mt.  Blanc  several  times,  and 
were  familiar  with  the  route.  We  consented  to  go  with  them 
as  far  up  the  mountain  as  the  Grands  Mulets,  a  Swiss  chalet 
or  hut  which  was  the  last  station  for  those  who  ascend  Mt. 
Blanc  from  Chamounix,  and  was  within  5,000  feet  of  the 
summit. 

On  our  way  to  this  point  over  the  Glacier,  we  met  Professor 
Tyndall  the  scientist,  well  known  as  a  veteran  explorer  of  the 
Alps.  He  was  acquainted  with  Taugwalder,  and  as  we  halted 
for  them  to  greet  one  another  I  introduced  myself  as  the 
nephew  of  my  uncle.  Professor  Morse,  asked  his  counsel  about 
venturing  to  make  the  ascent  urged  upon  us  b}'  our  guides, 


100  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

and  explained  my  feeling  of  responsibility  to  the  parents  of 
my  nephew.  After  talking  with  Taugwalder  he  said  to  me 
that  the  ascent  was  not  now  considered  dangerous,  and  that 
Taugwaldei  was  one  of  the  very  best  guides  in  Switzerland. 
He  counseled  the  undertaking,  provided  the  weather  was  favor- 
able. I  asked  him  to  instruct  Taugwalder  for  me  on  this  point, 
and  to  explain  to  him  that  I  desired  to  wait,  if  necessary,  for 
a  favorable  day.  When  he  had  cordially  complied  with  this 
request,  I  thanked  him  most  heartily  for  the  help  he  had  so 
courteously  given  to  a  stranger  in  perplexity. 

Soon  after  this  fortunate  meeting  we  reached  the  Grands 
Mulcts,  which  looked  like  a  bowling  alley,  perched  insecurely 
on  the  two  rocks  jutting  out  of  the  rough  icy  surface  of  the 
Glacier.  On  the  morning  of  the  3rd  the  weather  was  unpromis- 
ing, but  at  1  A.  M.  on  the  4th  of  July,  we  left  the  Grands 
Mulcts,  and  six  hours  later  reached  the  summit,  in  the  teeth 
of  a  fierce  icy  wind.  The  sky  was  clear  and  the  magnificent 
prospect  most  rewarding. 

In  one  direction  among  a  group  of  snow  mountains  the 
Monte  Rosa  and  Matterhorn  peaks  were  clearly  seen,  in 
another  the  Jungfrau,  Eiger,  and  Monch  of  the  Bernese  Ober- 
land  group — all  below  us!  Much  farther  below  we  noticed 
what  seemed  to  be  a  brook  meandering  through  a  deep  valley 
with  a  green  hill  at  one  side,  and  a  barn  built  on  the  top  of  it. 
This  was  the  Val  d'Aosta  and  Mount  St.  Bernard  crowned 
with  its  monastery.  The  impressions  which  we  had  already 
received  of  man}^  of  these  mountains,  and  of  the  sublime 
scenery  of  Switzerland,  helped  to  make  intelligible  to  us  the 
wonderful  character  and  extent  of  the  prospect  now  under 
our  eyes.  Our  arrival  on  the  summit  was  announced  as  usual 
from  Chamounix  by  the  boom  of  a  cannon.  On  reaching  the 
village  in  the  afternoon  the  demonstration  concerning  the 
event  made  us  feel,  as  American  citizens,  that  we  had  patriotic- 
ally celebrated  the  Fourth  of  July. 

Our  sixth  week  of  mountain  climbing  we  decided  to  spend 
on  the  lower  altitudes  of  the  English  Lake  District,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  period  greatly  enjoyed  standing  on  the  Scawfell 
IMkes — the  highest  spot  in  England!  Then  I  bade  goodby  to 
my  nephew  in  the  harbor  of  Queenstown,  as  the  good  steamer 
Baltic  carried  him  toward  home. 


ON  THE  PATH  TO  THE  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP        101 

World's  Conference 

1872 

The  family  errands  which  had  caused  me  to  visit  Europe 
for  the  third  time  were  uot  ended  with  the  departure  of  my 
nephew.  The  final  days  of  the  tour  were  to  be  spent  in  Berlin 
with  my  youngest  brother  Oliver,  who  had  been  studying  for 
several  years  in  Germany.  Between  these  controlling  family 
errands,  quite  incidentally — as  was  also  the  case  with  Mc- 
Burney — attendance  ujiou  the  World's  Conference  in  Amster- 
dam in  August  was  practicable,  and  we  were  glad  to  avail 
ourselves  of  the  opportunity.  From  Queenstowu  I  returned 
to  London,  where  McBuruey,  after  his  visit  to  relatives  in  the 
north  of  Ireland,  was  to  join  me,  that  we  might  go  together 
to  Amsterdam  before  he  completed  his  tour  abroad  by  a  visit 
to  Switzerland.  Though  for  each  of  us  attendance  upon  this 
conference  was  only  incidental  to  a  trip  abroad  on  family 
errands,  out  of  it  came  influences  which  caused  and  shaped 
for  both  of  us  many  future  journeys  together  across  the 
Atlantic. 

In  my  own  case  it  led  to  my  undertaking,  during  the  follow- 
ing forty-two  years,  nineteen  journeys  to  Europe — almost 
always  with  McBurney  until  his  death  in  1898 — and  two  trips 
across  the  I'acific.  In  each  instance  the  principal  errand  was 
connected  with  a  World's  Conference  or  Committee  meeting, 
or  the  improvement  of  some  opportunity  of  promoting  inter- 
national fellowship  in  our  brotherhood.  In  London  for  the 
first  time  we  enjoyed  meeting  Association  workers,  with  whom 
we  had  often  corresponded,  and  for  whom  we  had  brotherly 
regard  and  affection. 

George  Williams,  then  in  his  fiftieth  year,  was  Treasurer 
of  the  London  Committee  and  Association.  From  him  on  this 
visit  I  received  the  first  of  many  welcomes  to  the  historic 
room  at  72  St,  Paul's  Churchyard  where  the  Association  was 
born  and  where  afterward,  as  often  as  I  was  in  London,  I  was 
to  have  the  privilege  of  enjoying  brotherly,  helpful  intercourse 
with  him  as  friend  and  counselor.  The  President,  the  Earl 
of  Shaftesbury,  we  did  not  meet  until  a  later  visit.  Shipton 
had  been  an  employed  ofiQcer  of  the  London  Association  since 
1850,  serving  as  an  assistant  until  1856,  and  for  the  last  six- 


102  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

teen  years  as  the  able  Secretary  of  the  Association,  which 
stood  in  an  active  parental  relation  to  all  British  Associations. 
This  relation  did  not  exist  by  vote  of  representative  delegates. 
A  National  Council  was  not  created  by  such  formal  action 
until  1882,  coming  then  from  American  suggestion. 

As  Associations  had  been  organized  in  the  leading  cities  of 
Britain,  each  had  filed  a  copy  of  its  constitution  with  the 
London  Association,  and  sent  to  it  an  annual  report.  So  the 
members  of  each  belonged  not  only  to  the  local  Association, 
but  to  the  whole  movement.  This  arrangement  gave  to  the 
London  Secretary  a  fatherly  relation  to  his  fellow  Secretaries 
in  Britain.  He  was  the  acknowledged  leader  in  the  calling 
and  deliberation  of  all  Association  Conferences  which  had 
been  held  in  that  country.  Equally  in  relation  to  the  World's 
Conference  he  had  been  a  leader  of  like  rank,  attending  every 
one. 

At  the  first,  in  1855,  the  system  of  correspondence  between 
the  Associations  of  the  different  nations,  suggested  by  the 
American  delegation,  was  entrusted  to  him  without  formal 
appointment  by  the  Conference.  Under  his  able  leadership 
the  four  Conferences  since  1855  had  been  called  and  held,  and 
he  had  arranged  in  a  similar  manner  for  the  approaching 
meeting  in  Amsterdam.  Shipton,  therefore,  in  London  was  a 
City  Association  Secretary,  and  also  a  supervisory  secretary 
in  his  relation  to  the  British  Associations  and  the  World's 
Conference.  He  received  us  very  cordially  in  the  Association 
rooms  and  office,  then  located  on  Aldersgate  Street,  and  still 
occupied  by  one  of  the  Branches  of  the  London  Association. 
There  he  held  a  large  and  interesting  Bible  class  every  Sunday 
afternoon,  at  the  close  of  which  tea  was  served.  Attending 
this  class  soon  after  my  arrival  in  London,  and  before  Mc- 
Burney  joined  me,  I  was  deeply  impressed  with  Shipton's 
excellent  conversational  manner  of  conducting  it.  During  the 
tea  we  began  an  acquaintance  and  fellowship  which  was  life- 
long. 

At  Amsterdam  the  only  other  American  delegate  at  the 
opening  of  the  Conference  was  Moses  W.  Pond,  President  of 
the  Boston  Association.  Two  others  appeared  before  adjourn- 
ment, one  of  whom  was  Dr.  Scovel,  then  of  Pittsburgh,  and 
later  for  many  years  the  honored  President  of  Wooster  Uni- 


ON  THE  PATH  TO  THE  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP       103 

versity,  Ohio.  The  uumber  of  delegates  from  France  and 
Germany  was  small,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  Franco-German 
War  was  of  recent  date.  For  the  same  canse  this  triennial 
meeting  had  not  been  held  since  1867.  There  were  sixty-two 
delegates  from  Holland  and  sixty-four  from  six  other  coun- 
tries. Of  these  Britain  sent  thirty-eight;  Germany  fifteen; 
America  five;  and  Switzerland,  France,  and  Belgium  each 
sent  two. 

The  President  of  the  Amsterdam  Association,  Van  Ooster- 
wijck  Bruijn,  presided  at  the  opening  session  and  welcomed 
us,  using  in  succession  the  four  languages  spoken  by  the  dele- 
gates. Every  paper  was  presented  in  one  of  these  languages 
and  then  the  substance  was  translated  into  the  other  languages 
by  interpreters.  Each  day,  at  one  meal  for  all  the  delegates, 
opportunity  was  given  for  brotherly  intercourse.  From  each 
country  represented,  except  the  two  in  North  America,  a 
paper  was  read,  giving  account  of  the  work  in  that  country. 
The  Junglings  Vereins  of  Germany — chiefly  under  pastors  as 
presidents,  and  a  part  of  the  parochial  system  of  the  State 
Church  in  Germany — were  represented  by  Pastors  Krum- 
macher  and  Christian  King.  It  was  a  type  of  organization 
and  work  prevailing  not  only  in  Germany,  but  in  parts  of 
Switzerland  and  Holland.  The  local  interdenominational 
laical  type  was  represented  by  all  the  English  speaking  dele- 
gates, and  by  France  and  parts  of  other  countries.  No  paper 
upon  the  work  in  North  America  had  been  asked  for  or 
provided. 

As  we  listened  to  the  facts  about  the  Associations  in  other 
lands,  and  recalled  the  recent  new  departures  achieved  by 
our  Associations  in  developing  and  extending  the  fourfold 
work,  we  became  aware  that  such  a  paper  from  our  side  of 
the  ocean  would  be  of  value  to  a  World's  Conference.  It  would 
give  facts  concerning  a  group  of  Associations  which,  in  some 
desirable  features,  were  stronger  than  kindred  organizations 
in  any  other  land. 

In  the  intervals  of  the  sessions  the  English  speaking  dele- 
gates held  several  meetings.  On  Sunday  Mr.  Shipton  led  a 
conversational  Bible  class,  giving  a  strong  impressive  illus- 
tration of  this  excellent  method  of  Bible  work.  It  led  later 
to  an  invitation  from  our  American  Secretaries  for  a  Bible 


104     .  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

class  leader  from  England,  which  was  responded  to  by  W. 
Hind  Smith,  the  Secretary  of  the  Manchester  Association, 
who  brought  to  our  Secretaries'  Conference  of  1874  a  special 
message  concerning  the  place  of  the  Bible  class  in  the  scheme 
of  Association  work.  At  another  meeting  of  English  speaking 
delegates  we  were  asked  to  lead  a  prayer  meeting,  and  at 
another  to  state  the  facts  concerning  recent  developments  of 
the  American  work — local,  state,  and  international.  This 
called  forth  many  inquiries  from  the  thirty-five  British  dele- 
gates, some  of  whom  came  from  the  larger  cities,  and  did  not 
sympathize  with  Mr.  Shipton's  views,  already  expressed  to 
us  as  follows  in  writing,  and  in  kindly,  brotherly  terms :  "I 
entertain  a  conviction  that  your  methods  must  needs  be  all 
your  own,  and  though  they  may  differ  in  some  respects  from 
ours,  ours  would  certainly  not  be  altogether  fitted  to  the 
conditions  of  life  and  work  among  you.  Only  let  us  pray  that 
the  directly  religious  aims  of  the  Associations  may  receive, 
everywhere,  more  prominence."  He  questioned  whether  some 
features  of  our  fourfold  work  could  be  maintained  without 
sacrifice  of  "the  directly  religious  aims  of  our  Associations" 
on  both  sides  of  the  sea. 

What  he  knew  also  of  our  supervisory  representative  organ- 
izations and  its  agencies  did  not  lead  him  to  think  them  desir- 
able for  Britain  and  other  countries.  We  were  assured  that 
the  opposite  of  these  views  was  held  by  not  a  few  of  those  who 
were  influential  in  the  British  Associations.  The  very  general 
use  of  wine  at  meals,  by  delegates  to  the  Conference,  was  a 
surprise  to  the  American  delegates.  Nothing  was  more  strik- 
ing and  impressive  to  them  than  the  devout,  earnest,  and 
consecrated  spirit  of  these  delegates  from  many  lands.  How- 
ever much  we  might  differ  in  the  languages  we  spoke  and  in 
the  methods  of  work  we  were  pursuing,  all  of  us  were  quick 
and  sensitive  to  feel  that  we  perfectly  understood  each  other 
in  the  confession  of  our  faith  and  trust  in  Jesus  Christ  as 
God  and  Saviour  and  in  a  supreme  desire  to  "lead  young  men 
to  become  His  disciples  in  their  teaching  and  in  their  life." 
This  was  from  the  beginning  and  continues  to  be  the  primarj^ 
solicitude  and  the  vital  bond  of  fellowship  uniting  in  love  and 
service  all  genuine  Association  leaders  and  workers  in  all 
lands. 


ON  THE  PATH  TO  THE  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP       105 

A  great  privilege  of  the  Conference  for  us  was  the  oppor- 
tunity to  come  into  fellowship  with  the  first  generation  of 
European  leaders,  among  them  George  Williams;  W.  Edwyn 
Shiptou ;  Professor  Thomas  H.  Gladstone,  a  cousin  of  the 
statesman ;  Pastor  Paul  Cook  of  Paris,  the  president  of  the 
two  Conferences  of  1855  and  1867  which  had  met  in  that  city; 
Pastor  Krummacher  and  Christian  King  from  Germany ;  and 
Van  Oosterwijck  Bruijn  of  Holland,  who  presided  over  this 
Conference  with  brotherly  courtesy.  Some  had  been  at  every 
Conference.  They  told  us  of  the  absentees  whom  we  were  to 
meet  in  other  years,  including  Max  Perrot,  Pastor  Barde,  and 
Professor  Kenevier  of  Switzerland. 

Some  of  these  veterans,  including  Williams,  Cook,  and  Ship- 
ton,  had  taken  part  with  the  few  delegates  from  eight  coun- 
tries of  Europe  and  North  America  who  met  in  Paris  at  the 
first  Conference  and  framed  the  Basis  of  1855,  so  satisfying 
in  its  simplicity  and  sufficiency  that  it  was  reaffirmed  also  at 
Paris,  unaltered,  in  the  Jubilee  Conference  of  1905  by  750 
representatives  of  Associations  on  all  the  continents.  Its 
words  continue  to  express  the  conviction  of  Association  work- 
ers and  the  basis  of  their  fellowship  and  work:  "The  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations  seek  to  unite  those  young  men 
who,  regarding  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  their  God  and  Saviour 
according  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  desire  to  be  His  disciples 
in  their  doctrine  and  their  life  and  to  associate  their  efforts 
for  the  extension  of  His  Kingdom  among  young  men." 

From  Amsterdam  McBurney  went  to  complete  his  tour  by 
a  visit  to  Switzerland,  while  I  returned  home  by  way  of  Berlin, 
and  in  company  with  my  brother  Oliver,  of  the  Yale  class  of 
1868,  who  joined  me  there.  He  had  spent  some  years  in  study 
in  Germany  and  after  gaining  sufficient  knowledge  of  the 
language  had  succeeded  in  promoting  the  extension  of  the 
Sunday  school  on  the  American  plan  and  method  in  some  of 
the  churches  of  Germany. 

Consideration  and  Acceptance  of  General  Secretaryship 

W^hen  we  met  in  Europe  I  had  promised  McBurney  that 
upon  returning  home  I  would  give  a  definite  answer  to  the 
invitation  of  the  Committee  to  become  its  General  Secretary. 

In  1872,  less  from  my  own  point  of  view  than  from  that  of 


106  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

my  family  and  clerical  friends,  the  lesson  of  the  four  years 
of  strenuous  work  in  religious  journalism  seemed  to  be  that 
the  time  had  now  come  for  me,  at  the  age  of  thirty-one,  to  make 
choice  of  those  activities  of  my  calling,  which  belonged  to 
the  pulpit  and  pastorate.  Better  qualification  for  this  work 
they  agreed  in  thinking  had  been  gained  by  me  as  a  student, 
editor,  publisher,  and  Association  worker.  So  far  as  I  could 
interjjret  my  own  mind  and  conscience  I  was  perfectly  ready 
to  do  this,  if  by  such  a  course  I  could  serve  my  generation 
most  effectively  in  the  Church  and  Kingdom  of  our  Lord. 

The  weight  of  opinion  among  those  who  had  been  nearest 
to  me  since  boyhood,  so  far  as  I  could  interpret  it,  was  favor- 
able to  the  choice  of  the  pastorate.  *'In  seeking  a  life  work 
in  religious  journalism,"  they  said,  "you  have  certainly  been 
unsuccessful;  might  you  not  be  as  seriously  disappointed  in 
this  Association  work?  In  a  few  local  fields  in  the  great  cities, 
with  a  building  and  larger  resources  in  men  and  money,  the 
Association  is  giving  to  a  few  a  great  work  to  do — but  for 
how  long  a  time?  Even  McBurney  at  his  age,  feels  he  is 
getting  near  the  end  of  his  usefulness  as  a  Secretary  and  has 
thought  of  seeking  such  jireparation  for  pulpit  and  pastorate 
as  already  you  have  secured.  But  to  you  an  office  like  that 
of  McBurney's  is  not  offered.  You  are  asked  to  attempt  one, 
as  yet  untried  by  any  worker,  and  growing  out  of  a  somewhat 
vague  relation  to  many  Associations,  of  many  varieties.  You 
are  asked  to  do  this  by  a  Committee  with  slender  resources, 
who  are  seeking  to  promote  a  form  of  Association  work,  which 
has  been  adopted  by  only  a  small  minority  of  the  societies; 
and  these,  after  a  checkered  existence  of  twenty  years,  do  not 
yet  seem  to  know  their  own  mind.  Should  not  these  consider- 
ations lead  you  to  the  conviction  that  this  is  the  critical  time 
to  enter  an  open  path  in  which  you  will  join  your  friend  and 
classmate,  Henry  Stebbins,  now  your  near  neighbor  in  River- 
dale,  New  York,  where  he  is  in  the  fifth  year  of  his  first  and 
useful  pastorate?  If  you  are  ever  to  take  this  step  is  not  now 
the  time  to  take  it?" 

Under  the  urgency  of  such  friendly  counsel  as  this,  I  became 
conscious  that  the  considerations  and  convictions  which  were 
strongly  inclining  me  toward  an  acceptance  of  the  position 
offered  me,  were  peculiarly  my  own  possession,  and  chiefly 


ON  THE  PATH  TO  THE  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP       107 

because  they  were  all  known  only  to  me.  During  the  past 
three  years  personal  intercourse,  fellowship,  and  strenuous 
work,  had  made  me,  more  thoroughly  than  perhaps  I  had 
realized,  an  interdenominationalist.  I  had  inclined  in  that 
direction  before  joining  the  Association,  having  already  been 
a  member  and  worker  in  churches  of  three  denominations. 
The  atmosphere  of  my  home,  the  attitude  of  my  father,  the 
stud}'  of  my  grandfather's  life  and  letters,  the  jn-eferences 
formed  during  my  connection  with  the  theological  seminary, 
and  my  contact  in  the  Observer  with  the  religious  press  and 
the  writers  and  workers  of  all  the  denominations,  had  been  a 
good  prei)aration  for  j)ractical  contact  with  the  Association 
and  study  of  its  work. 

Three  years  in  the  Association  had  brought  me  into  living, 
personal  fellowshij)  with  several  hundred  men,  actually  at 
work  in  the  different  denominations,  and  loyal  to  their 
churches.  So  far  as  we  were  denominationalists,  McBurney 
and  I  belonged  to  different  churches.  Thane  Miller  was  a 
member  of  a  third  denomination.  Moody  of  another,  and  Pier- 
pont  Morgan  of  a  fifth.  William  Dodge  and  Cephas  Brainerd 
were  of  the  same  denomination  as  myself. 

Many  years  afterward  at  the  Ecumenical  Missionary  Con- 
ference in  Edinburgh  in  1910  I  heard  a  Chinese  pastor  and 
leader  of  the  Church  in  China  say,  ''The  Chinese  mind  has  no 
use  for  denominationalism."  The  remark  caused  me  then  to 
recognize  and  confess  that  probably  my  mind,  ancestrally  and 
through  my  own  experience,  had  been  for  over  a  century 
gradually  coming  into  some  kinship  with  the  Chinese  mind. 
But  this  is  a  digression.  With  the  Association  work  in  its 
best  estate  when  it  concentrated  upon  work  among  young  men, 
I  had  become  acquainted,  and  I  believed  in  its  future  growth. 
I  had  defined  this  work  in  a  manner  acceptable  to  those  ex- 
perienced in  it. 

The  view  of  the  Associations  as  they  existed  in  other  parts 
of  the  world  which  I  had  gained  at  the  W^orld's  Conference 
accentuated  the  importance  of  what  was  being  achieved  in 
North  America,  in  its  relation  to  the  promotion  of  this  form 
of  interdenominational  work  on  other  continents.  If  I  could 
prove  acceptable  and  efficient  in  the  office  now  offered,  it 
seemed  to  me,  after  careful  and  prayerful  deliberation,  that 


108  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

in  such  a  position,  more  than  in  any  other  path  open  to  me, 
I  could  make  that  use  of  my  faculties  and  the  training  I  had 
thus  far  received  which  would  best  fulfil  my  call  to  the  minis- 
try of  the  Gospel  and  its  obligations. 

With  this  conviction,  late  in  September  I  accepted  the  pro- 
posal of  the  Committee  and  on  October  1,  1872,  began  my 
work  with  them  under  the  sole  title  of  General  Secretary. 


chapter  vii 

the  beginning  of  the  general  secretaryship 
Of  the  international  committee 

First  Year  as  General  Secretary 
1872-73 

The  Association  Monthly  was  still  published  hy  the  Com- 
mittee under  the  arrangement  already  mentioned.  It  was 
for  other  work  that  the  General  Secretary  had  been  called  and 
was  urgeuth'  needed. 

The  Monthly  continued  to  meet  with  favor  at  the  Conven- 
tion, where  it  found  friends  and  advocates,  but  it  became  such 
a  tax  on  the  Committee's  treasury  that  in  the  spring  of  1873 
its  publication  was  abandoned  and  an  arrangement  was  made 
with  the  Illustrated  Christian  Weekly,  a  publication  of  the 
Tract  Society  edited  by  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  to  take  the  list 
of  subscribers  and  furnish  in  its  weekly  issues  items  of  news 
from  the  Associations. 

The  ending  of  the  Association  Monthly  did  not  end  the  un- 
dying interest  of  the  Committee  in  a  periodical  for  the  Asso- 
ciation Movement.  But  for  two  years  (1870-71)  they  had 
made  a  periodical  the  absorbing  occupation  of  their  second 
employed  officer,  to  whom  they  gave  the  title  of  "General  Secre- 
tary and  Editor."  He  had  found  this  occupation  an  excellent 
place  of  training  because  his  desk  was  in  the  parent  Associa- 
tion building  of  the  Association  Movement  and  he  was  in  inti- 
mate intercourse  with  the  local  city  Secretary,  who  was  work- 
ing out  for  the  whole  brotherhood  the  problem  and  program 
of  the  fourfold  work.  Further,  the  editor's  correspondence  to 
procure  "The  News  of  the  Associations"  for  publication  gave 
him  knowledge,  beyond  any  one  else  at  that  time,  of  the  elect 
Associations  which  were  making  progress  toward  developing 
this  distinctive  Association  work  and  equally  desirable  knowl- 
edge of  the  many  more  which  were  accomplishing  little  or 
nothing  in  this  direction. 

109 


110  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

But  the  time  had  uow  come  for  this  editor  to  give  himself 
wholl}^,  bj'  visitation  as  well  as  by  correspondence,  to  the  dis- 
tinctive work  of  the  General  Secretaryship.  This  was  the 
decree  of  both  Committee  and  Convention. 

Correspondence  and  Pamphlets 

A  principal  agency  of  the  General  Secretary  in  his  contact 
with  the  individual  Associations  was  that  correspondence 
which  ha4  already  become  a  burden  too  heavy  to  be  carried 
bj"  the  volunteer  officers  of  the  Committee.  Most  of  this 
burden  had  been  carried  by  the  chairman,  Cephas  Braiuerd. 
He  was  a  born  letter  writer,  taking  genuine  pleasure  in  what 
was  generally  regarded  as  a  task.  At  one  time  when  he  was 
quite  ill  far  away  from  home,  Mrs.  Brainerd  told  me  that  she 
did  not  feel  really  anxious  about  him  until  he  failed  to  write 
his  daily  home  letter.  "When  he  can't  write  a  letter,"  said 
she,  "he  must  be  seriously  ill."  They  were  good  virile  letters, 
that  reached  their  mark,  as  the  replies  which  they  brought 
abundantly  testified.  He  did  not  cease  writing  after  the  Gen- 
eral Secretary  began  to  lend  a  hand,  for  there  was  plenty 
of  work  in  this  line  for  both  of  us,  during  the  time  each  could 
command  for  it. 

The  larger  burden  now  devolved  on  me,  but  of  letters  relat- 
ing to  perplexing  problems  he  wrote  a  large  proportion  during 
the  remaining  twenty  years  of  his  chairmanship.  In  dealing 
with  letters  of  this  sort  I  found  in  him  teacher  and  trainer. 
In  discussions  and  adjustments  of  trying  situations  and  differ- 
ing opinions  he  had  the  rare  faculty  of  going  no  further  in 
each  succeeding  letter  than  was  necessary  at  that  stage  of  the 
negotiation  or  problem.  He  could  stop  where  one  felt  tempted 
to  go  on  prematurely.  This  faculty  had  had  excellent  training 
in  his  successful  practice  as  a  lawyer. 

There  was  one  department  of  the  correspondence  which  we 
did  not  share.  It  might  be  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  he 
wrote  half  a  dozen  letters  soliciting  money  for  the  Committee, 
during  the  years  of  our  fellowship  in  this  work.  He  appre- 
ciated and  rejoiced  in  any  success  in  this  direction  won  by 
any  of  his  associates,  but  he  felt  that  his  service  upon  other 
equally  important  phases  of  the  work  justified  exemption  from 
endeavor  of  this  kind.    For  me  also  during  the  first  two  years 


BEGINNING  OF  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP  111 

it  did  not  become  necessary  to  undertake  this  class  of  corre- 
spondence. 

With  many  letters  were  sent  copies  of  the  few  pamphlets 
already  published  containing  "Suggestions  Concerning  Organi- 
zation," "Form  of  Constitution,"  and  "Test  of  Active  Member- 
ship." These  had  been  prepared,  and  for  a  time  were  circu- 
lated gratuitously  by  the  Committee,  but  soon  for  each  a  small 
price  was  charged.  Among  these  was  my  own  pamphlet,^  "The 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  As  It  Is."  The  first 
edition  treated  only  of  the  local  organization.  In  1876  it  was 
increased  in  size,  dealing  with  the  Railroad,  Student,  and 
Supervisory  Work.  The  title  page  of  the  edition  of  1880  states 
that  the  circulation  had  then  reached  24,000  copies. 

Search  for  Secretaries  and  Representation  at  Conventions 

A  significant  and  very  important  feature  of  the  correspond- 
ence with  individual  Associations,  from  its  beginning,  related 
to  securing  competent  General  Secretaries  and  presented 
problems,  demanding  visitation,  as  well  as  written  replies. 
In  this  way  began  that  solicitude  and  search  for  men  of 
promise  which  created  a  Secretarial  Department  or  Bureau 
and  commanded  increasing  cooperation  from  Secretaries  Inter- 
national, State,  and  local.  Out  of  it  already  in  1871  had  grown 
the  Secretaries'  Conference — a  conference  which  for  more  than 
its  first  two  decades  (1871-1891) — was  conducted  by  its  chang- 
ing Executive  Secretaries  and  Committees  in  such  close  con- 
nection and  counsel  with  this  International  Secretarial  De- 
partment as  to  be  in  point  of  fact,  part  and  partner  of  it. 

A  section  of  the  correspondence,  steadily  growing  from  year 
to  year,  promoted  representation  of  the  Committee  at  State 
and  Provincial  Conventions.  To  these,  in  the  beginning,  the 
Committee's  corresponding  member  in  each  state  maintained 
a  virile  relation,  until  he  gradually  gave  place  to  the  State 
Committee  and  the  State  Secretary.  To  each  of  these  Com- 
mittees as  it  was  created  the  International  Committee  soon 
looked  for  the  nomination  of  a  corresponding  member  from 
their  own  number.  Their  reports  published  in  the  Year  Books 
until  1900  gave  a  brief  account  of  each  year's  work  in  each 

»Pp.  91,  92. 


112  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

state  and  province.  Thus  was  preserved  a  summary  statement 
of  the  progress  of  the  work  in  all  the  states  and  provinces. 

For  the  year  1875,  I  was  able  to  report  that  at  every  one  of 
the  seventeen  State  and  I'rovincial  Conventions  of  that  year 
the  Committee  was  satisfactorily  represented.  This  represen- 
tation promoted  unity  and  efiSciency,  and  has  been"  steadily 
maintained  and  increased  by  the  members  and  staff  of  the 
Committee.  It  was  invited  and  welcomed,  in  the  great  ma- 
jority of  cases,  by  leaders  in  the  State  Work.  But  the  Com- 
mittee felt  and  acted  under  an  obligation  to  be  represented. 
There  were  emergencies  in  which  this  secured  for  the  Inter- 
national Convention  and  its  Committee  a  representative  wise 
enough  to  prevent  disaster  and  to  promote  endangered  fellow- 
ship. 

All  the  time  which  could  possibly  be  taken  from  correspond- 
ence and  office  work  was  used  for  visitation.  The  first  year 
closing,  as  did  its  successors,  with  the  adjournment  of  the 
annual  Convention,  was  a  year  of  nine  months — October,  1872- 
July  13,  1873.  I  attended  six  State  Conventions  and  visited 
thirty-four  Associations  during  these  months. 

The  call  upon  the  Committee  for  such  visitation  by  agents 
in  addition  to  Weidensall  and  myself  steadily  increased  in 
urgency.  Such  a  call  from  the  South  was  presented  as  early 
as  1869.  In  response  delegates  offered  over  |1,000  toward  the 
expense  involved,  and  William  F.  Lee,  of  New  York,  a  member 
of  the  Committee,  and  George  A.  Hall,  then  Secretary  of  the 
Washington,  D.  C,  Association,  visited  acceptably  nineteen 
cities,  of  which  they  made  report  to  the  Convention  of  1870. 
Early  in  1872,  Weidensall  made  a  rapid  and  useful  tour 
through  the  South,  and  at  the  Convention  reported  good 
results.  In  the  spring  of  1875,  and  again  in  187G,  Thomas  K. 
Cree  and  George  A.  Hall  made  two  more  protracted  tours  in 
that  section  and  a  demand  was  urgently  made  for  an  addi- 
tional Secretary  who  might  be  wholly  occupied  with  work  at 
the  South. 

Beginning  of  the  Railroad  Work 

Of  the  six  State  Conventions  which  I  attended  during  this 
first  year,  that  of  Ohio  at  Toledo — November,  1872 — was  the 
first  ever  attended  by  railroad  delegates.    They  reported  a  very 


BEGINNING  OF  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP  113 

significant  movement  begun  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  two  years 
before. 

One  day  in  the  year  1871,  the  body  of  a  man  who  had  been 
accidentally  killed  on  the  railroad  was  being  carried  out  of 
the  Union  Station  in  that  city.  Some  one  in  the  crowd  asked 
who  had  been  killed,  and  the  reply  was  "Only  a  railroad  man." 
The  words  reached  the  ears  of  a  train  despatcher,  Henry  W. 
Stager,  and  deeply  affected  him.  He  had  never  been  interested 
in  any  welfare  work,  but  he  felt,  vaguely  indeed,  yet  strongly, 
that — to  use  his  own  words — "something  ought  to  be  done 
for  railroad  men."  Recently  in  his  wayward  life  he  had  ex- 
perienced a  good  influence  from  the  Cleveland  Association, 
when  his  attention,  as  a  passer-by,  had  been  arrested  by  one 
of  its  open  air  meetings.  To  his  surprise  he  saw  and  tarried 
to  listen  to  a  prominent  young  business  man  of  the  city,  Henry 
A.  Sherwin,  who,  as  leader  of  the  meeting,  was  earnestly  giving 
the  gospel  message.  Now  it  occurred  to  him :  Why  might  not 
railroad  men  be  brought  together  to  listen  to  such  an  appeal? 
Impelled  by  this  desire  he  called  upon  his  mother's  pastor, 
Dr.  Chauncey  W.  Goodrich,  and  asked  him  whether  he  would 
come  to  the  railroad  station  on  Sunday  afternoon  and  speak 
to  railroad  men,  if  they  were  called  together.  Dr.  Goodrich 
knew  of  the  solicitude  which  Mrs.  Stager  felt  for  her  son,  an<l 
was  surprised  by  such  a  request  from  him.  He  very  cheerfully 
accepted  the  invitation  and  Stager  succeeded  in  getting  an 
audience,  as  well  as  the  speaker.  The  meetings  were  continued 
with  the  help  of  Dr.  Goodrich  and  other  clergymen,  and  Stager 
was  converted.  For  some  time  the  depot  master,  George  Myers, 
had  opened  his  office  on  Wednesday  evenings,  for  a  prayer 
meeting  for  railroad  men.  The  Cleveland  Association  and  its 
Secretary,  Lang  Sheaff,  had  lent  cooperation,  and  now,  in 
accord  with  suggestion  of  clergy  and  laity,  the  work  was 
placed  in  charge  of  a  Railroad  Committee  formed  for  the  pur- 
pose. Henry  Sherwin  declined  reelection  to  the  presidency 
of  the  city  Association  in  order  that,  as  chairman  of  the  new 
committee,  he  might  be  free  to  give  more  time  to  this  Railroad 
Work. 

A  reading  room  in  the  station  was  desired,  and  first  in  rank 
among  railroad  officials  to  become  interested  was  James  H, 
Devereux   of   the   Vanderbilt   system,   and    President   of   the 


114  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

"C  C.  C  &  I.  R.  R."  A  room  in  the  station  was  granted  with 
an  appropriation  for  equipment,  and  for  a  Superintendent  or 
Railroad  Secretary.  One  of  the  active  Association  workers, 
George  W.  Cobb,  consented  to  resign  a  business  career  and 
accept  the  position.  A  revival  interest  was  awakened  in  con- 
nection with  this  work,  which  extended  beyond  the  limits  of 
Cleveland. 

It  was  soon  after  the  opening  of  this  railroad  reading  room, 
in  November,  1872,  that  the  Ohio  Convention  was  to  meet  in 
Toledo  and  I  was  appointed  to  represent  the  Committee  at 
its  sessions.  The  day  of  the  dining-car  had  not  arrived,  and 
as  the  train  reached  the  station  I  was  met  at  the  steps  of  the 
car  by  the  Cleveland  delegates,  who  would  not  allow  me  to  go 
into  the  dining  saloon,  but  insisted  that  I  must  spend  the  time 
allotted  to  a  meal  in  a  visit  to  this  novel  Railroad  Association 
reading  room,  finely  equipped  and  marking  the  beginning  of 
a  work  which,  they  said,  "your  Committee  must  promote  all 
over  the  railroads  of  the  country !"  Stager,  Sheaff,  Cobb,  and 
the  President  of  the  Cleveland  Association  were  among  the 
delegates.  The  sensation  created  by  the  report  of  this  new 
departure  was  the  event  of  the  Convention.  The  delegates 
were  profoundly  stirred  and  the  revival  interest  was  extended 
by  them  to  the  community  and  churches  of  Toledo.  The  in- 
terest thus  awakened  was  also  greatly  promoted  by  another 
feature,  not  then  in  the  program  of  other  State  Conventions. 
Following  the  practice  of  the  International  meeting,  the  dele- 
gates tarried  over  Sunday,  holding  their  farewell  session  on 
Sunday  evening.  The  delegates  spoke  in  all  the  pulpits  of 
Toledo,  and  the  whole  community  felt  their  influence.  The 
value  and  importance  of  this  farewell  Convention  Day  was 
brought  by  our  Committee  to  the  attention  of  other  State 
Conventions  and  gradually  adopted  by  all. 

By  the  friends  in  Ohio  I  was  urgently  requested  to  present 
to  the  Committee,  when  reporting  their  new  Railroad  Work, 
the  importance  of  immediate  effort  to  begin  a  similar  work 
for  railroad  men  at  the  Grand  Central  Station  in  New  York. 
This  station  had  been  recently  (1871)  erected  and  opened  in 
the  development,  by  Commodore  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  of  the 
railroad  system,  which  bears  his  name.  Such  an  undertaking 
as  this  then  seemed  as  impracticable  as  to  attempt  a  prayer 


BEGINNING  OF  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP  115 

meeting  on  the  Stock  Exchange !  I  was  very  deeply  impressed 
with  this  beginning  of  work  among  railroad  men  and  carried 
to  the  Committee  as  favorable  a  report  concerning  it  as  I 
could  present,  suggesting  that  the  work  be  made  one  of  the 
subjects  for  discussion  at  the  next  (1873)  International  Con- 
vention. But  I  could  not  then  make  on  others  the  profound 
impression  which  vital  contact  with  the  work  itself  had  made 
upon  me. 

International  Convention  of  1873 

What  related  to  the  annual  International  Convention  had 
now  first  claim  upon  the  General  Secretary.  The  Lowell  Con- 
vention had  voted  to  hold  the  meeting  of  1873  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, if  the  Committee  found  it  practicable.  After  much 
correspondence  it  was  decided  that  proper  arrangements  could 
not  be  made,  and  the  call  of  the  Committee  was  issued  for 
delegates  to  meet  in  Poughkeepsie,  New  York.  To  two  Inter- 
national Conventions  I  had  come  as  an  editor,  to  listen,  to 
learn,  and  to  report.  To  Poughkeepsie  I  came,  after  having 
had  to  do  with  arrangements  for  the  Convention,  and  with 
such  experience  in  the  work  as  caused  me  to  be  sought  for 
counsel,  by  delegates,  at  the  critical  point  of  the  most  critical 
discussion. 

This  discussion  related  to  two  distinct  phases  of  State  Work. 
In  eight  states  I  had  participated  in  conventions,  where  I  had 
become  acquainted  with  these  two  phases,  which  were  best 
exemplified  in  Massachusetts  and  Pennsylvania. 

From  the  beginning,  in  North  America,  the  historic  general 
evangelistic  phase  had  been,  and  still  was  the  prevailing  one. 
It  was  most  strongly  developed  in  New  England.  The  Massa- 
chusetts Committee,  composed  of  a  remarkable  group  of  lay- 
men— including  Henry  M.  Moore,  R.  K.  Remington,  and  Rus- 
sell Sturgis,  Jr. — had  invited,  for  a  second  season,  K.  A. 
Burnell,  an  evangelist  of  Illinois,  to  be  their  leader.  In  the 
discussion  of  State  Work  at  Poughkeepsie  the  Chairman  of 
the  Massachusetts  Committee,  R.  K.  Remington,  reported  that, 
led  by  this  evangelist,  members  of  the  Committee  had  spent 
one  hundred  and  one  days  and  evenings  visiting  forty-eight 
cities  and  large  towns,  awakening  churches  and  communities, 
and  that  four  hundred  conversions  had  resulted.     Several  of 


116  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

the  Committee  had  given  from  twenty  to  thirty  days  to  this 
inspiring  work.  A  leading  pastor  had  declared  that  "an  or- 
ganization which  had  originated  and  carried  forward  such 
a  canvass  as  this,  had  proved  its  right  to  exist."  The  aggre- 
gate time  given  by  the  members  of  the  State  Committee  was 
one  hundred  and  sixty-one  days.  They  traveled  collectively 
20,000  miles  during  the  canvass.  The  report  made  a  profound 
impression.  As  a  type  of  State  Work  it  had  commanded  such 
wide  approval  that  Mr.  Burnell  had  been  invited  into  New 
Hampshire  and  a  similar  work  had  been  begun  there. 

The  next  season,  1873-4,  Burnell  led  a  third  canvass  in 
Massachusetts,  with  similar  cooperation  and  good  results. 
The  New  Hampshire  Committee  carried  on  an  equally  success- 
ful series  of  evangelistic  meetings.  The  following  season  both 
Committees  employed,  from  among  their  own  number,  evan- 
gelistic State  Secretaries.  The  Massachusetts  example  proved 
contagious,  influencing  all  the  New  England  States.  I  at- 
tended their  conventions  both  before  and  after  the  Pough- 
keepsie  Convention  and  sympathized  deeply  with  their  genuine 
hope  and  intention,  that  this  fruitful  evangelistic  work  should 
and  would  result  in  building  up  the  Associations.  It  was  a 
work  that  restored  the  good  name  of  the  Association  through- 
out New  England.  Upon  the  friends  in  these  States  I  urged 
the  importance  of  securing  and  employing  in  the  cities  a 
General  Secretary  for  each  Association,  who  should  conserve 
and  develop  the  results  of  this  excellent  evangelistic  work,  in 
the  interest  of  work  for  young  men.  But  no  immediate  re- 
sponse had  followed. 

A  second  phase — '"work  for  young  men  exclusively" — was 
emphasized  by  the  Pennsylvania  Committee.  In  1871  it  had 
been  the  first  to  put  a  State  Secretary  in  the  field,  and  for 
two  years  Samuel  A.  Taggart  had  been  successfully  at  work — 
a  work  in  which  he  continued  to  render  invaluable  service  for 
eighteen  years.  For  five  years  he  stood  alone  among  the 
employed  agents  of  State  Committees  in  the  primary  emphasis 
he  gave  to  work  exclusively  for  young  men.  Mr.  Taggart 
reported  at  Poughkeepsie  that,  under  his  leadership,  each  year 
a  series  of  public  meetings  was  held  by  the  Pennsylvania  Com- 
mittee, which  exerted  a  strong  evangelistic  influence,  and  was 
accompanied   by^  many   conversions.     At   each   place   special 


BEGINNING  OP  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP  117 

attention  was  given  to  the  local  Association.  I  had  had  the 
privilege  and  advantage  not  only  of  attending  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Convention,  but  also  of  working  with  Taggart  in  these 
meetings  and  appreciated  fully  the  force  of  his  words  as  he 
said,  *'The  State  Secretary  is  not  a  missionary  nor  an  evan- 
gelist— though  he  should  always  be  evangelistic  and  mission- 
ary in  spirit — but  this  spirit  should  be  manifested  in  specific 
efforts  to  benefit  and  build  up  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tions. It  is  comparatively  easy  to  awaken  great  temporary 
enthusiasm;  it  is  quite  a  different  thing  to  count  correctly 
upon  the  patient  continuance  of  the  members  in  the  work,  and 
upon  their  not  expending  all  their  zeal  during  the  first  three 
months  of  the  first  year." 

In  this  interesting  discussion  the  New  York  State  Com- 
mittee also  took  part.  It  had  been  and  still  was  under  the 
leadership  of  McBurney.  One  of  its  members  spoke  in  a  dis- 
heartened tone  of  the  State  Conventions,  none  of  which  had 
yet  been  held  over  Sunday,  and  marked  by  the  impressive 
feature  of  that  closing  and  crowning  Convention  Day.  The 
work  of  visitation  had  not  been  accompanied  by  the  evan- 
gelistic features  reported  from  other  states.  The  difficulty, 
removed  later,  was  that  the  State  Committee's  search  for  the 
Secretary  whom  they  needed  had  been  unsuccessful. 

The  comparison  of  views  and  experiences  on  the  floor  of  the 
Poughkeepsie  Convention  stimulated  a  continuance,  for  the 
present,  of  both  methods  of  State  Work.  Neither  met  the 
endorsement  of  the  Convention,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other. 
Massachusetts  then,  and  for  some  years  afterward,  was  as 
confident  as  Pennsylvania  that  its  Committee  was  following 
the  right  path.  In  both  states,  and  in  others  less  advanced. 
Association  workers  had  the  same  supreme  evangelistic  aim 
on  behalf  of  young  men.  Fellowship  with  these  workers  in 
ten  states  and  provinces,  from  Nova  Scotia  to  Iowa,  made  me 
deeply  conscious  of  this  unity  of  aim — a  consciousness  which 
remained  unchanged  when  later  the  ten  became  twenty  and 
thirty. 

The  comparison  and  competition  of  varying  methods  was  to 
continue  for  years,  taxing  the  patience  and  disciplining  the 
temper,  energies,  and  consecration  of  fellow  workers,  who 
were  held  together  by  bonds  of  faith  and  sympathy  stronger 


118  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

than  the  opinions  which  might  have  separated  them.  Mean- 
while, as  I  said  at  Poughkeepsie :  ''Pennsylvania  with  its  State 
Secretary,  and  the  large  income — 13,500 — it  raises  for  its  Com- 
mittee is  in  the  van  of  Association  progress,  and,  naturally  in 
the  number  of  active  vigorous  societies,  is  first  on  the  roll  of 
the  states  and  provinces.  This  position  has  been  reached 
slowly.  It  is  the  product  of  patient  laborious  effort.  In  it 
concentration  upon  distinctive  work  for  young  men  had  been 
given  the  preeminence."  This  from  its  first  appointment  was 
also  the  objective  of  the  International  Committee. 

Another  topic  discussed  at  Poughkeepsie  related  to  Bible 
study  and  Bible  classes.  At  the  two  previous  Conventions  also 
the  topic  had  been  impressively  discussed.  At  Poughkeepsie 
the  person  to  open  the  discussion  was  William  H.  Thomp- 
son, M.D.,  then  teacher  of  the  remarkable  Bible  class  of  the 
New  York  Association,  which  had  an  attendance  each  Sunday 
of  over  one  thousand.  Dr.  Thomspon  was  an  Oriental  scholar 
as  well  as  a  physician,  and  followed  the  lecture  rather  than 
the  conversational  method.  His  thoughtful  address  made  a 
profound  impression,  and  together  with  the  discussion  that 
followed,  was  one  of  the  influences  leading  to  the  continuance 
in  every  succeeding  Convention  of  a  similar  Bible  session  and 
discussion. 

Though  a  topic  relating  to  the  new  work  among  railroad 
men  was  not  upon  the  program,  on  motion  of  George  A.  Hall 
five  minutes  were  given  to  the  Cleveland  Railroad  Secretary, 
George  W.  Cobb,  to  report  that  work.  He  used  to  boast  that 
he  "began  speaking  as  he  left  his  seat,  talked  all  the  way  to 
the  platform,  and  all  the  way  returning."  He  told  a  vivid 
story  of  the  significant  beginning  of  a  work  which  was  destined 
to  interest  profoundly  every  succeeding  Convention.  It  com- 
forted me  to  some  extent  for  the  absence  of  a  railroad  topic 
from  the  program  of  the  Convention.  It  insured  such  a  topic 
for  the  next  Convention. 

General  Secretaries'  Conference  of  1873 

Another  meeting,  as  significant  as  that  of  the  Convention, 
and  as  vitally  related  to  Association  work  and  my  connection 
with  it,  was  held  in  Poughkeepsie  during  the  week  preceding 
the  Convention.     This  was  the  third  annual  meeting  of  the 


BEGINNING  OF  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP  119 

General  Secretaries'  Association.  Of  the  first  meeting  in  1871, 
account  has  been  given. ^  The  second  was  merged  in  one  of 
the  sectional  sessions  of  the  Lowell  Convention,  in  1872. 
Neither  of  these  had  been  provided  with  a  carefully  prepared 
program.  Each  had  been  limited  to  a  few  hours.  At  the  first 
meeting  twelve,  and  at  the  second  eight  more  local  "paid 
Secretaries"  had  become  members  by  signing  the  Constitution. 
Now  twenty  more  local  Secretaries  added  their  names.  It 
had  been  agreed  that  the  third  annual  meeting  should  begin 
on  the  Saturday  preceding  the  Wednesday  on  which  the  Inter- 
national Convention  began  its  session. 

At  this  meeting  in  Poughkeepsie  a  totally  different  plan  was 
followed.  McBurney,  as  president  at  the  second,  had  been 
made  responsible  for  the  program  of  this  third  meeting.  A 
rule  adopted  at  his  suggestion  required  that  every  topic  should 
be  introduced  by  a  written  paper,  read  to  the  conference.  It 
was  no  easy  task  at  that  time  to  get  as  many  as  twelve  Secre- 
taries to  write  papers  upon  carefully  prepared  topics  relating 
to  the  work  of  a  Secretary.  This,  however,  was  accomplished 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  some  of  those  who  were  to  present 
papers,  arrived  en  route  at  the  Association  building  in  New 
York,  pleading  lack  of  facility,  and  expressing  a  preference  for 
treating  their  topics  without  notes !  To  such  the  inexorable 
McBurney  in  his  oflSce  dictated  sufficient  help  to  enable  them 
to  obey  the  Median  and  Persian  rule  which  was  being  followed. 
Twenty-nine  "paid  Secretaries"  assembled  at  Poughkeepsie. 
The  sessions  began  on  Saturday  and  closed  Tuesday  evening. 
To  the  sessions  of  this  conference,  Taggart  and  I  were  ad- 
mitted, but  not  yet  to  full  or  "ordinary  membership."  The 
constitution  however  gave  to  us  standing  as  "honorary,  non-vot- 
ing members."  At  the  first  meeting  in  1871  I  had  been  present 
as  a  salaried  officer  of  the  International  Committee  and  a 
reporter,  Taggart  was  present  at  Lowell  as  a  State  Secretary, 
and  we  were  both  assigned,  and  had  prepared  papers  for  the 
Poughkeepsie  meeting.  Taggart's  paper  was  upon  "The  State 
Secretaryship — Its  Field  and  Duties."  Mine  was  the  opening 
topic,  "The  Office  of  the  General  Secretary,  Its  Name,  Origin, 
and  Design."  At  the  next  meeting  the  constitution  was 
changed,  and  secretaries  of  both  International  and  State  Com- 

'Pp.  80,  81. 


120  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

mittees  were  admitted  to  the  full  membership  hitherto  held 
only  by  local  Association  Secretaries. 

Nearly  four  days  were  given  to  twelve  topics.  This  allowed 
time  for  thorough  discussion.  Each  Secretary  after  reading 
his  paper  passed  through  a  cross  examination,  some  phases 
of  which  would  have  done  credit  to  an  attorney  of  good  repute. 
We  all  gained  a  better  conception  of  the  secretarial  office  and 
also  a  knowledge  of  how  this  conference  could  be  wisely  used 
as  a  means  of  helping  Secretaries,  and  of  interesting  and 
enlisting  men  who  showed  qualification  for  the  vocation.  It 
was  the  first  of  fourteen  annual  conferences  which  preceded 
and  led  up  to  the  Training  Schools.  If  was  a  genuine  training 
agency.  The  following  cities  were  among  those  represented 
by  their  Secretaries :  Washington,  D.  C,  New  York,  Harlem 
Branch,  Bowery  Branch,  Buffalo,  Syracuse,  Schenectady, 
Auburn,  Poughkeepsie,  Home,  Oswego;  Philadelphia,  Pitts- 
burg, Germantown,  Lancaster;  Newark,  N.  J.;  Boston,  Wor- 
cester, Providence,  Westerly;  Cleveland,  Detroit,  Toledo; 
Toronto,  Hamilton,  Guelph,  Port  Hope. 

Erskine  Uhl,  then  Secretary  of  the  Poughkeepsie  Associa- 
tion and  afterward,  for  nearly  thirty  years,  until  his  death, 
the  faithful  and  exceptionally  qualified  Office  Secretary  of 
the  International  Committee,  was  chosen  Secretary-Treasurer. 
To  him  and  his  successors  in  this  office  during  these  fourteen 
years,  was  given  chief  responsibility  for  the  programs  of  the 
conferences.  The  program  of  each  meeting  was  carefully 
prepared,  in  consultation  with  the  office  staff  of  the  Interna- 
tional Committee,  and  with  McBurney,  as  a  member  and  repre- 
sentative of  the  International  Committee,  and  the  Nestor  of 
General  Secretaries. 

This  annual  conference,  thus  conducted,  was  during  these 
years  the  strongest  reenforcement  granted  International  and 
State  Secretaries,  in  their  incessant  and  strenuous  endeavor 
to  create  among  Association  Directors  an  intelligent  and  wise 
demand  for  salaried  Secretaries,  and  then  to  satisfy  this  de- 
mand with  qualified  men.  The  attendance  increased  steadily 
each  year.  Some  time  before  each  meeting,  as  General  Secre- 
tary of  the  Committee,  I  wrote  to  the  President  and  Directors 
of  Associations  with  General  Secretaries,  setting  forth  the 
advantages  to  them,  and   to  the  whole  brotherhood,   of  the 


BEGINNING  OF  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP  121 

attendance  of  their  employed  oflBcers.  The  response  was  very 
encouraging.  McBurney  missed  only  one  session  during  his 
lifetime — the  one  at  Oakland,  California,  in  1887 — and  I  was 
present  at  every  one  after  1873  until  1915.  All  the  stronger 
Secretaries  were,  as  a  rule,  in  attendance.  In  1879,  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty-six  Secretaries  then  holding  office,  one 
hundred  and  forty-five  were  present. 

It  is  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  value  to  the  North  American 
Association  Movement  of  the  early  solicitude  for  secretarial 
training  of  which  this  conference  was  one  vital  expression. 
Our  work-text,  iterated  and  reiterated  during  these  formative 
years,  was:  "Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  thrust  forth 
laborers  into  His  harvest."  In  my  own  case  the  full  meaning 
of  these  words  had  been  deeply  impressed  upon  me  by  reading 
a  brief  pamphlet  issued  by  one  of  the  Foreign  Mission  Board's 
in  their  search  for  missionaries,  in  which  this  sure  path  to 
our  goal  was  pointed  out  most  convincingly  and  the  neglect 
of  it  was  shown  to  be  fatal.  God's  answer  to  prayer  has  been 
strikingly  visible  all  along  the  growth  of  the  secretaryship. 
International,  State,  and  local.  The  most  conspicuous  answer 
was  granted  us  in  the  fulness  of  time  in  the  person  of  the 
strongest  leader  of  our  brotherhood,  John  Mott,  who  in  turn 
has  performed  probably  his  greatest  service  in  deepening  the 
prayer  life  of  a  growing  multitude  of  his  fellow  disciples  and 
workers. 

A  terse  expression  of  Moody's  uttered  at  this  period  was  so 
often  quoted  among  us  as  to  deserve  mention :  "I  had  rather 
set  ten  men  at  work  than  do  the  work  of  ten  men  if  I  could." 
They  gave  strong  emphasis  to  the  executive  quality  needed  in 
the  secretaryship  and  later  bore  fruit  in  McBurney's  anathema 
upon  secretarialism,  when  he  said  of  the  Secretary  who  was 
guilty  of  the  sin  of  doing  the  work  he  ought  to  get  others  to 
do :  "he  is  a  thief." 

Each  annual  session  was  cheered  by  the  appearance,  in  some 
important  discussion,  of  one  or  more  Secretaries  of  promise 
and  leadership.  Thus  had  appeared  and  continued  to  appear 
as  winners  of  the  love  and  confidence  of  their  brother  Secre- 
taries Kobert  Weideusall,  Thomas  J.  Wilkie,  George  A.  Hall, 
Thomas  K.  Cree,  Kobert  A.  Orr,  I.  G.  Jenkins,  Henry  S.  Ninde, 
George  W.  Cobb,  also  David  Sinclair,  first  as  a  boy-secretary 


122  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

from  Hamilton,  Canada — then  as  Secretary  at  Dayton,  until 
the  Association  there  attained  a  first  rank.  Among  others 
were 

Daniel  A.  Budge  Jacob  T.  Bowne 

Orlin  R,  Stockwell  Wm.  E.  Lewis 

Wm.  H,  Morriss  Charles  E,  Dyer 

F  von  Schluembach  A.  T.  Hemingway 

W.  W.  Vanarsdale  Henry  J.  McCoy 

Humphrey  B.  Chamberlin  E.  W.  Watkins 

Edwin  D.  Ingersoll  Clarence  B.  Willis 

A.  H.  Whitford  I.  E.  Brown 

Luther  D.  Wishard  Frank  W.  Ober 

Walter  C.  Douglas  George  A,  Warburton 

Samuel  M.  Sayford  Fred  S.  Goodman 

Charles  K.  Ober  L.  Wilbur  Messer 
James  and  David  McConaughy       George  T.  Coxhead 

Edwin  F.  See 

These  and  other  incoming  personalities,  year  by  year, 
strengthened  consciousness  and  clarified  vision  of  the  vocation 
and  the  vital  relation  it  bore  to  the  work  of  the  beloved 
brotherhood  to  which  we  belonged  and  to  the  Church  and 
Kingdom  of  our  Lord  of  which  this  brotherhood  was  a  part. 

To  the  Poughkeepsie  Conference  McBurney  and  I  reported 
our  favorable  opinion  of  the  conversational  Bible  class  at 
London,  Dublin,  and  other  cities  as  carried  on  by  British  Asso- 
ciation workers.  A  strong  desire  was  expressed  for  the  pre- 
sentation to  us  of  this  Bible  topic  by  some  of  the  Bible  class 
leaders  from  England,  and  it  was  agreed  to  invite  W.  Hind 
Smith,  the  Secretary  of  the  Manchester  Association,  to  come 
across  the  Atlantic  as  the  guest  of  our  Secretaries  and  address 
on  this  subject  the  next  Secretaries'  Conference  and  also  if 
practicable  the  International  Convention  of  1874. 

Second  Year  as  General  Secretary 
1873-74 

The  second  year  as  General  Secretary  began  with  the  ad- 
journment of  the  Poughkeepsie  Convention  and  its  first  two 
tasks  were  connected  with  the  two  meetings  at  Poughkeepsie. 


BEGINNING  OF  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP  123 

The  Year  Book 

The  first  was  the  preparation  and  publication  of  the  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Convention  and  its  Supplement,  composed  of 
the  reports  of  the  International  Committee,  its  agents,  and  its 
corresjioudiug  members  in  the  states  and  provinces,  together 
with  a  table  of  all  the  local  Associations  reporting.  It  was  the 
beginning  of  what  has  since  become  the  Year  Book.  The  Con- 
vention Proceedings  had  been,  and  for  several  years  continued 
to  be  the  principal  part  of  this  annual  publication. 

To  the  supplement,  as  hitherto  published,  I  added  a  table 
of  the  ninety-seven  State  and  Provincial  Conventions  held 
since  the  first  one  met  in  the  autumn  of  1866;  a  list  of  Asso- 
ciation buildings,  thirty-eight  in  number,  valued  at  |1,914,450; 
a  second  list  of  forty-three  building  funds  amounting  to  nearly 
half  a  million  dollars;  and  a  third  list  of  fifty  Secretaries, 
including  one  Railroad  Secretary,  four  assistants,  the  two 
employed  officers  of  the  International  Committee,  and  the  soli- 
tary State  Secretary  from  Pennsylvania.  The  name  General 
Secretary  had  so  little  currency  that  a  footnote  explained : 
"By  this  name  is  intended  the  officer  of  the  Association  who 
is  salaried,  to  give  all  or  a  specified  portion  of  his  time  to  the 
work  of  the  society."  The  supplement  also  included  the  tabu- 
lated reports  of  four  hundred  and  forty-two  Associations,  more 
by  eighty-three  than  had  reported  in  any  previous  year. 

The  second  and  more  important  publication  was  prepared 
at  the  request  of  the  Secretaries'  Conference  and  was  entitled 
"Office  Qualifications  and  Work  of  the  General  Secretary." 
It  was  the  product  of  a  careful  editing  of  the  twelve  papers 
and  the  discussion  each  had  excited  at  the  Poughkeepsie  Secre- 
taries' Conference.  Appended  to  this  were  the  proceedings 
of  the  first  three  Secretaries'  Conferences.  In  this  pamphlet 
was  given  the  substance  of  the  thorough  discussion  which  had 
been  given  to  each  topic  during  the  four  days  of  the  conference. 
The  material  was  arranged  so  as  to  treat  in  succession  of  "The 
Office,"  "The  Man,"  "The  Work,"  and  the  relation  of  these  to 
the  success  of  the  Association.  To  the  State  Secretaryship 
also  a  chapter  was  given.  The  number  of  employed  officers 
on  its  list  was  then  fifty-eight.  The  pamphlet  contained 
seventy-seven  small  duodecimo  pages. 


124  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Later  in  this  year,  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Secretaries' 
Conference,  for  four  days  preceding  the  Dayton  (1874)  Con- 
vention, additional  important  pajiers  and  discussions  supple- 
mented what  had  been  wrought  out  at  Poughkeepsie.  These 
I  was  able  more  promptly  to  edit  and  publish  in  a  pamphlet 
of  fifty-one  pages.  These  two  pamphlets  of  1874  were  the  first 
attempt  to  prepare  and  publish  a  definition  of  the  oflSce,  work, 
and  qualifications  of  the  employed  Executive  Officer  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 

To  Secretaries  and  other  Association  workers  seeking  to 
explain  the  office  and  to  young  men  making  inquiry  concerning 
the  work  and  qualifications  of  the  General  Secretary  they 
proved  of  value.  It  was  a  first  step  of  importance  toward  that 
training  for  an  office  and  vocation,  the  need  and  value  of  which 
was  beginning  to  be  deeply  felt  by  all  intelligently  interested 
in  Association  work  among  young  men.  These  initial 
pamphlets  indicate  how  early  and  promptly  the  Secretaries 
in  this  conference  discerned  and  undertook  as  a  commanding 
objective  the  manning  of  their  vocation,  then  in  its  infancy. 

For  myself,  officially,  the  task  was  educative  and  rewarding. 
Supplementing  intimate  fellowship  with  McBurney  and  other 
Secretaries,  it  yielded  an  invaluable  understanding  of  what 
was  taught  concerning  this  important  office  by  the  best  secre- 
tarial experience  of  that  early  period.  The  Secretaries'  Con- 
ference continued  to  be  invariably  attended  by  McBurney, 
Weidensall,  George  Hall,  Thomas  Cree,  Samuel  Taggart, 
Robert  Orr,  T.  J.  Wilkie,  Daniel  Budge,  and  other  leaders. 
Before  the  training  schools  were  established  (1885-1890) 
candidates  of  promise  for  the  secretaryship  were  invited  to 
attend  the  sessions  and  receive  the  benefit  of  the  information 
and  instruction  thus  imparted. 

Visitation  and  State  Conventions 

In  this  second  year  a  highwater  mark  was  reached  in  regard 
to  personal  visitation  of  individual  Associations.  "Sixty-nine 
visits  were  made  to  sixty-four  places  from  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  from  Virginia  to  Kansas." 
Five  hundred  and  forty-three  persons  were  met  and  conversed 
with  and  their  names  and  addresses  duly  recorded.  At  eight 
places,  eight  State  and  I'roviucial  Conventions  were  attended. 


BEGINNING  OF  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP  125 

In  Outario  after  attendance  upon  the  Provincial  Conven- 
tion, fourteen  Associations  were  visited  in  company  with  the 
Toronto  Secretary,  Thomas  J.  Wilkie.  Owing  chiefly  to  the 
continuing  efforts  of  Wilkie,  this  resulted  in  securing  for  five 
cities  Association  Secretaries.  In  this  important  provision 
for  the  work,  especially  in  the  smaller  cities — as  stated  in 
my  report  of  that  year — the  province  of  Ontario  was  placed  at 
that  time  "clearly  in  the  van  of  the  Association  Movement, 
for  of  the  sixty-six  cities  on  the  continent  in  which  Association 
Secretaries  are  now  employed,  ten  or  nearly  one-sixth  of  the 
whole  number  are  in  this  province." 

The  first  State  Convention  in  Kansas  was  called  and  at- 
tended during  a  tour  of  visitation  made  at  the  request  of  our 
corresponding  member  in  that  state.  In  the  South  the  only 
State  Convention  yet  held  in  Georgia  was  attended  at  Augusta. 
At  Kichmond,  Virginia,  the  way  was  prepared  in  that  state 
for  a  similar  organization.  Throughout  this  tour  in  the  sad 
political  era  of  reconstruction,  promise  was  made  of  an  un- 
precedented delegation  from  the  South  to  the  International 
Convention  of  1874  at  Dayton,  Ohio.  At  Kichmond  I  met  my 
old  college  friend  of  the  Yale  Class  of  '59,  Major  Robert  Stiles, 
who  was  a  veteran  Confederate  officer  of  the  army  of  northern 
Virginia,  and  at  this  time  an  honored  member  of  the  bar  in 
that  state.  Col.  William  P.  Munford,  one  of  the  leaders  in 
the  Associations  and  Conventions  before  the  Civil  War, 
cordially  promised  to  attend  the  coming  Convention  at  Day- 
ton with  delegates  from  Richmond. 

Among  the  more  important  cities  visited  this  year  were  St. 
Louis  and  Louisville.  In  both,  the  Associations  of  the  period 
before  the  Civil  War  had  disappeared,  and  under  circum- 
stances which  in  each  city  caused  serious  opposition  to  a  re- 
organization. This  discovery  led  promptly  to  other  visits 
in  which  I  was  able  to  correct  misunderstandings  and  to  effect 
in  each  instance  a  satisfactory  reorganization. 

The  most  thrilling  incident  of  travel  experienced  during  this 
year  occurred  on  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  on  board  a  coasting 
steamer  when  within  about  twenty  miles  of  Quebec.  It  was 
a  very  foggy  night  and  while  the  river  pilot  was  on  the  bridge, 
we  were  suddenly  awakened  by  a  shock  which  stopped  the 
steamer  in  mid-river.     The  vessel   had  run   upon   a  sunken 


126  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

rock,  which  had  penetrated  the  hull  and  held  her  fast,  and 
the  water  was  rising  in  the  hold.  The  captain  ordered  all  to 
put  on  life  preservers.  There  were  sufficient  boats  for  the 
women  and  children,  but  it  looked  as  if  the  life  preservers 
would  prove  to  be  of  invaluable  service  to  the  men !  We  were 
in  suspense  for  about  half  an  hour,  when  suddenly  the  engine 
was  at  work  again  and  the  steamer  began  to  move.  The  tide 
had  been  rising  so  rapidly  that  it  had  lifted  the  steamer  off 
the  rock.  The  captain  took  command,  and  rounding  the 
southern  point  of  the  island,  ran  the  vessel  aground  where  we 
were  safe,  though  not  progressing  on  our  journey! 

In  the  morning  we  discovered  we  were  opposite  Cacouna,  a 
summer  resort  frequented  by  many  citizens  from  Quebec.  It 
was  now  high  tide  and  all  about  the  steamer,  in  the  shallow 
water,  were  little  boats  with  interested  spectators.  In  one  of 
these  a  tall  man  stood  up  and  making  a  trumpet  of  his  hands, 
shouted:  ''Is  Ki chard  C.  Morse  on  board?"  He  was  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Quebec  Association,  my  friend  William  Thompson, 
who  was  spending  the  summer  with  his  family  at  Cacouna. 
Knowing  that  I  was  coming  by  this  steamer  and  learning  of 
our  plight,  he  was  on  his  way  to  look  for  me.  Promptly  his 
brotherly  aid  was  given  in  forwarding  me  to  my  destination. 

A  notable  event  of  the  year  1873  was  the  meeting  in  America 
for  the  first  time  of  an  Ecumenical  or  World's  Conference  of 
the  Evangelical  Alliance.  This  Alliance  was  then  at  the  height 
of  its  influence  as  an  agency  of  the  evangelical  churches.  The 
meeting  was  held  in  New  York  City,  and  the  principal  building 
of  our  world  brotherhood  with  its  ample  hall  and  social  and 
committee  rooms  offered  acceptable  accommodation  for  recep- 
tion, discussion,  and  the  entertainment  of  the  delegates  each 
day  at  luncheon. 

Unfortunately  at  this  time  Secretary  McBurney  was  laid 
aside  by  a  serious  illness.  In  addition,  therefore,  to  serving 
as  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  conference,  I 
complied  with  the  request  of  the  New  York  Association  and 
during  the  period  of  the  conference  became  acting  General 
Secretary,  For  a  time  McBurney  was  critically  ill,  and  at  his 
urgent  suggestion  I  was  approached  with  the  inquiry  whether, 
in  case  of  sore  need,  I  would  undertake  his  office.  His  com- 
plete recovery  solved  the  problem,  and  the  indispensable  pilot 


BEGINNING  OF  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP  127 

contiuued  at  the  helm  for  twenty-five  more  years  of  faithful 
service.  The  confereuce  proved  equal  to  the  expectations  of 
its  friends  and  promoters.  A  place  on  the  program  was  ac- 
corded to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  a  paper 
introducing  the  subject  was  read  by  the  chairman  of  the  Inter- 
national Committee. 

The  Financial  Crisis  Enlisting  Special  Effort 

Solicitude  or  responsibility  for  the  Committee's  finances 
hitherto  had  been  wholly'  absent  from  the  program  of  its  two 
Secretaries.  The  long  period  of  financial  depression  following 
the  Civil  War  began  during  this  year.  The  embarrassment  of 
the  Committee  was  only  in  part  due  to  the  prevailing  depres- 
sion. During  its  first  seven  years  (1866-72)  adequate  support 
of  the  work  entrusted  to  it  had  been  derived  from  subscriptions 
made  at  the  Conventions,  supplemented  occasionally  by  per- 
sonal solicitation.  But  during  this  eighth  year  (1873-74:),  while 
expenses  had  unavoidably  increased,  the  amount  from  collect- 
able subscriptions  was  so  insufficient  that  both  the  Commit- 
tee's Secretaries  received  notice  early  in  the  winter  that  the 
payment  to  us  of  salaries  could  not  be  continued.  We  cheer- 
fully kept  at  work,  confident  that  this  period  of  depression 
would  be  survived  in  some  solvent  way.  The  growing  gravity 
of  this  situation  did  not  become  known  to  me  until  my  return, 
in  January,  1874,  from  protracted  visitation  in  Canada,  Kan- 
sas, and  the  middle  West.  Endeavor  on  a  new  line  of  effort 
now  became  imperative. 

The  Committee  instructed  its  chairman  to  draft  a  letter 
plainly  stating  its  inability  to  meet  the  expense  of  the  work 
which  the  Convention  had  authorized.  It  was  decided  that 
this  letter  should  go  out,  not  as  a  printed  circular,  but  litho- 
graphed in  the  handwriting  of  the  chairman,  with  the  auto- 
graph signatures  of  all  the  members  of  the  Committee.  It  was 
written  and  signed  by  him  in  his  office,  and  I  immediately  went 
with  it,  and  the  peculiar  ink  needed,  to  the  office  of  each 
member,  and  then  to  the  lithographer,  for  after  it  was  written 
with  this  ink  there  was  need  of  dispatch  in  getting  it  upon  the 
stone  from  which  by  this  process  copies  were  to  be  secured. 
The  papyrograph  and  later  methods  of  duplicating  copies  were 
not  yet  in  use.     This  letter  was  sent  in  January,  1874,  to  a 


128  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

carefully  selected  list  of  Association  men  throughout  the  coun- 
try, who  had  attended  recent  Conventions  or  had  met  members 
of  the  Committee  or  its  Secretaries  and  had  manifested  an 
interest  in  its  work. 

In  Pennsylvania  the  State  Committee  from  its  beginning 
had  placed  the  same  emphasis  as  had  the  International  Com- 
mittee upon  the  planting  and  fostering  of  local  Associations. 
As  a  result  there  were  in  that  state  more  vigorous  Associations 
than  in  any  other.  The  Chairman  of  their  State  Committee, 
H.  Kirke  Porter  of  Pittsburgh,  had  been  President  of  the 
Poughkeepsie  Convention.  He  was  a  strong  friend  of  the 
International  work  and  associated  with  him  on  the  Penn- 
sylvania Committee  was  a  group  of  fifteen  Association  leaders 
and  workers.  All  were  among  the  several  hundred  to  whom 
the  letter  was  sent.  Many  replies  were  received,  expressing 
sympathy  and  giving  counsel.  A  few  also  sent  financial  help, 
but  the  reply  calling  for  a  definite  action  by  the  Committee 
came  from  an  unexpected  source.  James  McCormick,  Jr.,  of 
Harrisburg,  Pa.,  a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  Committee, 
wrote  saying  that  the  situation  seemed  to  him  to  call  for  a 
conference  of  the  friends  interested.  He  offered  to  entertain 
in  Harrisburg,  for  such  a  conference,  the  members  of  the  Com- 
mittee and  all  friends  of  the  work  who  would  come  to  take 
counsel  over  the  serious  situation  which  had  been  presented 
to  them.  This  friendly  and  hospitable  offer  by  one  of  the 
laymen  leaders  of  the  Association  was  cordially  accepted  by 
the  Committee,  and  March  11th  and  12th  were  appointed  as 
the  days  of  the  meeting. 

The  First  Parlor  Conference  at  Harrishurg 

An  earnest  invitation  to  this  parlor  meeting  was  prepared, 
conveying  the  brotherly  invitation  of  its  host  to  his  city  and 
home.  It  was  sent  to  a  list  of  the  friends  who  had  shown 
decided  interest  in  the  work  of  the  past  eight  years.  In  re- 
sponse, twentj^-five  of  these  friends  came  to  Harrisburg.  Only 
three  members  of  the  Committee  were  able  to  be  present — 
McBurney,  Benjamin  C.  Wetmore,  Treasurer,  and  Edgar  A. 
Hutchins,  an  active  and  industrious  Committeeman. 

With  the  light  of  future  developments  upon  it,  this  parlor 
meeting  at  Harrisburg  was  an  event  vitally  related  to  the 


BEGINNING  OF  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP  129 

future  of  the  Committee's  work  and  of  its  staff.  At  the  mo- 
ment it  seemed  a  passing  financial  crisis  of  the  first  magnitude 
that  we  were  facing  and  must  survive.  But  this  was,  in  fact, 
only  part  of  the  problem  to  be  solved. 

The  host  of  the  conference,  James  McCormick,  Jr.,  was 
already  well  known  and  prominent  among  the  public-spirited 
Christian  citizens  of  large  resources  in  central  Pennsylvania. 
The  family,  highly  respected  for  generations,  belonged  to  that 
invaluable  part  of  our  citizenship  that  has  come  to  us  from 
northern  Ireland.  His  ancestor,  James  McCormick,  was  one 
of  the  signers  of  the  memorable  Thanksgiving  document  re- 
ceived by  King  William  III,  in  acknowledgment  of  the  relief 
sent  by  him  to  the  beleaguered  City  of  Derry  in  the  seventeenth 
century  (1G89).  Another  branch  of  the  family  settled  in 
Virginia,  and  counts  among  its  members  Cyrus  H.  McCormick, 
inventor  and  capitalist  of  world-wide  harvester  fame. 

One  of  the  results  of  this  conference  of  1874,  was  that  six 
years  later  its  host  i^resided  at  a  conference  like  this  one,  but 
held  at  Chicago  in  the  home  of  his  relative,  Cyrus  H.  McCor- 
mick. With  his  brother,  Col.  Henry  McCormick,  James  Mc- 
Cormick graduated  at  Yale  in  the  early  fifties.  He  was  one 
of  a  group  of  his  fellow-students  at  Yale  resident  in  Harris- 
burg,  who  were  prominent  and  active  in  Christian  work  in 
that  city.  He  was  the  teacher  and  leader  of  a  remarkable 
Bible  class,  composed  of  several  hundred  men,  mostly  of  the 
laboring  classes.  One  evening  of  every  week  they  were  wel- 
comed to  his  home  for  a  social  meeting  of  prayer  and  confer- 
ence. His  relation  to  this  class  was  that  of  pastor  as  well 
as  teacher. 

In  later  years,  while  walking  about  the  city  with  Mr.  Mc- 
Cormick from  time  to  time,  I  was  frequently  impressed  with 
the  recognition  and  friendly  greeting  which  passed  between 
him  and  almost  every  laboring  man  we  met  on  the  street. 
When  a  stone  edifice  was  erected  by  the  church  to  which  he 
belonged,  a  substantial  chapel  was  included  in  the  plant  for 
the  accommodation  of  this  large  Bible  class;  and  his  pastor 
once  said  to  me,  "I  do  not  know  whether  I  should  be  called 
pastor  of  a  church  containing  a  Bible  class  or  of  a  Bible  class 
with  a  church  attachment." 

The  Harrisburg  Association  had  been  one  of  the  most  active 


130  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

during  the  Civil  War  period.  To  the  Convention  of  1865 
James  McCormick,  as  its  Corresponding  Secretary,  reports  for 
the  period  then  closing  (May,  1865)  :  "Our  rooms  have  been 
thrown  open  free  of  charge  to  the  soldiers  of  the  national 
army,  large  numbers  of  whom  have  been  stationed  at  this  State 
Capital  during  the  past  four  years.  Our  Association  has  been 
also  the  auxiliary  of  the  United  States  Christian  Commission 
for  the  central  part  of  the  state.  Great  good  has  been  effected 
not  only  among  the  tens  of  thousands  of  soldiers  who  have 
been  in  our  camps  and  hospitals  and  for  the  wounded  who 
have  been  passing  through,  but  in  raising  funds  and  supplies 
for  the  use  of  the  Commission  elsewhere  and  in  sending  dele- 
gates of  its  own  membership  to  the  field  to  care  for  the  sick 
and  wounded  both  of  the  armies  of  the  west  and  the  east.  The 
labors  of  the  Association  have  been  thus  widely  extended. 
Many,  too,  of  our  young  men  have  gone  into  the  army.  Today 
the  Association  rejoices  in  a  larger  membership,  a  larger  share 
of  public  confidence,  a  more  active  life  than  at  any  time  during 
the  ten  years  of  its  existence."  The  International  Convention 
of  1871  at  Washington  is  the  only  one  at  which  James  McCor- 
mick's  attendance  had  been  recorded  previous  to  1874.  In 
the  local  Association  work  he  had  taken  a  generous  part,  and 
of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Committee  he  had  been  an  active 
and  influential  member  for  the  three  years  since  it  had  begun 
its  more  efficient  work  with  a  State  Secretary, 

To  this  conference  came  the  Chairman  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Committee,  H.  Kirke  Porter,^  who  was  also  the  President  of 
the  Pittsburgh  Association.  Other  members  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Committee  present  were:  Wm.  R.  Davenport  of  Erie,  a 
strong  friend  and  promoter  of  Railroad  Association  work; 
D.  E.  Small  of  York,  and  Thomas  K.  Cree,  a  delegate  from 
Pittsburgh  to  the  last  six  International  Conventions,  first 
Chairman  of  the  Pennsylvania  Committee,  and  very  active  in 
its  excellent  work.  For  several  years  he  had  served  as  Secre- 
tary of  the  Pittsburgh  Association,  having  graduated  into 
this  position  from  a  successful  career  in  business.  But  in 
1872,  when  President  Grant  appointed  a  special  Indian  Com- 
mission, composed  of  prominent  Christian  men  of  business, 
this  Commission,  in  accord  with  the  recommendation  of  its 

•p.  75. 


BEGINNING  OP  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP  131 

Chairman,  Honorable  Felix  R.  Brunot  of  Pittsburgh,  chose 
Thomas  Cree  as  its  Executive  Secretary  in  responsible  rela- 
tion to  the  wise  expenditure  of  the  millions  of  dollars  used  in 
accomplishing  the  work  expected  from  the  Commission.  At 
the  time  of  this  conference  (March  11  and  12,  1874)  he  was 
acceptably  filling  this  office  and  was  on  his  way  to  become 
an  International  Secretary  of  unusual  ability  from  187G  until 
his  death  in  1914. 

Russell  Sturgis,  Jr.,  President  of  the  Boston  Association 
and  an  active  member  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Committee, 
was  also  present.  Thane  Miller  of  Cincinnati  was  chosen  as 
preeminently  the  person  to  preside. 

On  the  all-day  train  between  New  York  and  Harrisburg 
(the  journey  was  longer  in  hours  then  than  now)  the  three 
Committee  members  and  the  General  Secretary  prepared  to 
respond  to  the  inquiries  we  expected  concerning  the  extent, 
importance,  value,  and  cost  of  the  Committee's  work  from  its 
beginning,  eight  years  ago;  also  concerning  where  workers 
and  money  needed  had  come  from,  why  more  support  was  now 
needed  than  ever  before,  and  how  it  could  be  obtained.  Pres- 
ent embarrassment  had  made  it  necessary  to  borrow  money 
on  notes,  for  which  Committee  members  had  become  person- 
ally responsible.  Upon  the  replies  to  these  questions  might 
depend  not  simply  an  averting  of  financial  disaster,  but  the 
growing  development  of  this  urgently  needed  work  among 
young  men.  The  immediate  financial  emergency  necessarily 
engrossed  attention. 

Underlying  this  was  also  the  fact  that  both  the  Interna- 
tional and  State  Work  had  arrived  at  a  stage  of  growth  very 
similar  to  that  which  had  been  reached  six  years  before  this 
time  by  the  local  work  in  New  York  City.  At  that  critical 
time  the  fourfold  work  had  been  conceived  and  had  called 
for  such  development  of  local  Association  work  as  was  accom- 
plished only  by  a  financial  expenditure,  for  both  building  and 
employed  officer,  far  in  advance  of  what  had  been  demanded 
when  chief  dependence  was  placed  upon  volunteer  workers 
and  a  few  rented  rooms.  So  now,  in  the  development  of  both 
International  and  State  Work,  the  time  had  arrived  when  an 
employed  staff  for  correspondence,  visitation,  and  other  ac- 
tivities was  essential  to  the  performance  of  the  larger  work 


132  MY  LIFE  WlTH  YOUNG  MEN 

of  supervision  and  extension  demanded  from  these  super- 
visory committees.  This  was  not  then  discerned  as  clearly 
as  we  now  see  it  in  the  light  of  after  events,  but  we  made 
out  a  strong  plea  to  present  to  the  friends  who  might  come  to 
Harrisburg. 

The  Proceedings 

The  session  of  the  first  evening  sufficed  for  introductions 
and  fellowship  under  the  genial  presiding  influence  of  Thane 
Miller.  A  discussion  of  the  fullest  and  frankest  sort  was 
urged.  To  this  the  whole  of  the  next  day  was  devoted.  In 
candidly  expressing  the  serious  doubts  that  he  had  entertained 
and  had  heard  expressed  by  many  others  concerning  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  Association  work,  one  member  of  the  confer- 
ence asked  whether  it  was  not  true  that  the  existence  of  the 
Association  was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Church  was  not  doing 
for  young  men  the  work  it  ought  to  be  doing.  If  this  were 
true  was  not  the  remedy  to  be  sought  in  abandoning  the 
Association,  and  in  awakening  the  Church  to  do  her  duty? 
To  this  suggestion  more  than  one  adverse  reply  was  made, 
but  the  most  radical  rejoinder  came  from  W.  R.  Davenport 
of  Erie,  who  declared  that  if  any  proposal  of  this  sort  were 
seriously  made,  he  "would  take  the  next  train  for  Erie." 

While  there  was  a  wide  range  of  discussion,  most  of  the 
time  was  thoughtfully  spent  upon  the  International  Work. 
What  had  been  accomplished  during  eight  years  by  the  Com- 
mittee was  reviewed,  including  representation  at  most  of  the 
one  hundred  and  eleven  annual  meetings  of  State  and  Pro- 
vincial Conventions  which  had  been  held.  This  had  promoted 
the  forming  of  several  promising  state  organizations.  We 
were  meeting  in  the  central  city  of  the  strongest  of  these,  the 
only  one  then  having  a  State  Secretary  who  placed  first  em- 
phasis upon  definite  work  among  young  men.  To  bring  other 
states  to  a  similar  condition  was  one  object  being  accom- 
plished by  the  International  Committee.  In  this  work  the 
cooperation  of  Taggart,  State  Secretary  of  Pennsylvania,  had 
been  of  great  value.  The  enlargement  of  this  needed  work  by 
the  Committee  depended  upon  its  securing  a  growing  number 
of  employed  Secretaries.  "Why  is  this  necessary?"  was  asked. 
In  answer  to  this  question  I  was  able  to  point  to  what  already 


BEGINNING  OF  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP  133 

had  been  accomplished  by  WeidensalPs  work,  with  its  record 
of  over  two  hundred  visits  in  twenty-two  states  and  interviews 
with  over  two  thousand  persons,  as  well  as  my  own  experience 
in  over  one  hundred  and  sixty  visits  in  five  Canadian  prov- 
inces and  twenty  states,  and  interviews  with  over  twelve  hun- 
dred persons.  Instances  of  success  and  failure  were  given 
with  varied  illustrations.  During  the  eight  years,  the  total 
cost  in  money  of  the  work  including  publications  was  a  little 
less  than  |50,000.  Of  this  sum  over  thirty-five  per  cent  had 
been  obtained  from  New  York  City  and  Brooklyn.  Some  years 
afterward,  during  a  visit  in .  Mr.  McCormick's  home,  Mrs. 
McCormick  asked  me  why  I  was  called  upon  to  answer  so 
many  questions  during  the  first  conference.  As  I  seemed  to 
question  the  fact,  she  added,  "The  ladies  of  the  family  were 
sitting  in  the  adjoining  room,  and  while  they  could  hear  very 
little  of  the  proceedings,  they  heard  enough  to  know  that  you 
seemed  to  be  expected  to  answer  most  of  the  many  questions 
that  were  asked !"  I  remember  vividly  the  subject  matter  of 
the  questions  as  already  stated,  but  for  the  testimony  of  the 
ladies  on  the  subject,  I  am  indebted  to  Mrs.  McCormick.  At 
the  close  of  the  day  the  friends  present  testified  that  they 
had  received  a  favorable  impression  of  the  work  of  the  Com- 
mittee and  expressed  confidence  that  if  only  the  facts  they 
had  learned  could  be  generally  made  known,  sufficient  support 
would  be  given,  not  only  to  carry  on  its  present  work,  but  to 
enlarge  it  on  the  lines  upon  which  further  advance  was  im- 
peratively called  for. 

In  the  train,  during  our  day  journey  home,  an  outline  was 
prepared  for  a  little  pamphlet  entitled:  ''The  International 
Work  from  1866-1873:  Its  Plan,  Cost,  Agencies,  and  Pros- 
pects." In  this  was  given  a  summary  of  the  facts,  methods, 
and  program  of  the  work  presented  at  Harrisburg. 

Soon  this  pamphlet,  with  its  appeal,  was  circulated  among 
those  who  could  not  be  at  Harrisburg.  It  formed  part  of  our 
preparation  for  the  approaching  Convention  at  Dayton,  June, 
1874. 

The  Dayton  Convention  of  1874 

It  was  too  late  to  arrest  the  financial  embarrassment  of  that 
fiscal  year,  and  to  the  Dayton  Convention  the  Committee  was 


134  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

compelled  to  report  that  the  salaries  of  its  two  Secretaries 
had  uot  been  paid,  but  that  to  both  of  them  timely,  fair,  and 
full  warning  of  the  Committee's  inability  had  been  duly  given. 
Anxious  deliberation  followed,  and  a  striking  evidence  that 
the  air  was  blue  and  the  prospect  discouraging  was  the  fact 
that  Weidensall,  wandering  into  a  committee  room,  found 
McBurney  in  tears!  He  confessed  that  the  bitter  cause  of 
his  grief  was  the  bankrupt  condition  of  the  International 
treasury,  and  the  non-employment  of  its  agents.  Weidensall 
tried  to  comfort  him  by  the  assurance  that  our  continuance 
at  work  was  not  to  be  at  all  affected  by  the  deficiency  in  the 
treasury. 

In  response  to  its  Committee's  report,  the  Dayton  Conven- 
tion heartily  voted  the  continuance  of  the  work  and  of  the 
Secretaries,  and  also  the  payment  of  the  arrears  due  on  salaries 
as  promptly  as  the  money  could  be  secured.  The  Convention 
also  authorized  the  continuance  of  helpful  and  enlightening 
conferences  like  the  recent  meeting  at  Harrisburg,  where  the 
work  could  be  brought  to  the  attention  of  friends  who  could 
not  attend  the  Conventions,  but  in  these  meetings  could  hear 
from  those  who  were  doing  the  work. 

Among  the  new  delegates  at  the  Dayton  Convention  there 
came  one  who  soon  ranked  among  the  ablest  and  most  remark- 
able Association  leaders  of  this  period.  Rev.  Frederick  von 
Schluembach  was  president  of  an  Association  he  had  recently 
organized  in  Baltimore,  composed  of  German  speaking  young 
men.  This  was  the  period  when  the  immigrants  to  this  coun- 
try from  Germany  exceeded  in  number  those  coming  from  any 
other  nation.  Born  in  Germany,  a  Captain  in  the  Union  Army 
during  the  Civil  War ;  then  an  infidel  lecturer  of  the  Schopen- 
hauer school  of  thought,  he  had  experienced  a  remarkable 
conversion  of  a  Pauline  type,  and  had  become  an  eloquent 
evangelist  pastor  of  the  German  Methodist  Church.  By  his 
appeal  for  Association  work  among  German  speaking  young 
men  he  gained  assurance  of  cooperation  from  the  Convention 
and  its  Committee. 

To  the  Dayton  Convention  also  was  strongly  presented  the 
Bible  class  work  of  the  British  Associations  by  Secretary 
W.  Hind  Smith  of  the  Association  in  Manchester,  England. 
As  the  guest  of  the  North  American  Secretaries  he  had  crossed 


BEGINNING  OF  GENERAL  SECRETARYSHIP  135 

the  Atlautic  aud  already  had  attended  iu  Dayton  the  four 
days'  session  of  their  annual  conference.  His  messages  in 
Dayton,  and  in  Associations  visited  on  this  tour,  gave  impulse 
to  Bible  class  work.  In  New  York  City,  McBurney  was  led 
to  resume  teaching  a  Sunday  Bible  class  for  young  men  which, 
several  years  before  this,  owing  to  an  excess  of  diffidence,  he 
had  shrunk  from  continuing  when  the  Association  moved  into 
its  new  building.  During  the  hour  following  this  class,  accord- 
ing to  English  precedent,  tea  was  served.  Many  other  Secre- 
taries, by  the  urgency  of  Secretary  Smith  and  the  example 
of  McBurney  and  of  Robert  Orr  in  IMttsburgh,  were  influenced 
to  teach  Bible  classes  of  young  men. 

A  topic  upon  Association  work  among  railroad  men  was 
part  of  the  program  of  the  Dajton  Convention.  It  was  opened 
b}'  W.  W.  Van  Arsdale,  then  a  Secretary  in  charge  of  an  Asso- 
ciation reading  room  which  had  been  opened  in  the  Rock 
Island  railroad  station  in  Chicago.  Soon  afterward  Van 
Arsdale  became  the  General  Secretary  of  the  Chicago  Associa- 
tion. 

To  the  Dayton  Convention  Col.  William  P.  Munford  brought 
from  the  Richmond,  Va.,  Association  a  "cordial"  and  "unani- 
mous" invitation  to  hold  the  Convention  of  1875  in  that  city. 
Right  of  way  among  all  competitors  was  given  to  this  welcome 
invitation  from  the  South,  and  the  vote  to  meet  in  Richmond 
was  made  unanimous  with  enthusiasm. 

To  Daj'ton  and  its  young  men  the  event  of  the  conference 
was  a  negotiation  with  the  International  Committee  con- 
cerning a  man  for  General  Secretary  of  the  City  Association. 
To  the  friends  making  the  request,  David  A.  Sinclair 
was  introduced.  He  was  then  in  the  office  and  work  of  the 
Association  in  Hamilton,  Ontario,  as  its  General  Secretary. 
He  had  been  present  the  previous  year  in  Poughkeepsie  at 
the  third  meeting  of  the  Secretaries'  Conference  and  had 
made  a  very  favorable  impression  on  all  of  us  who  had  met 
him  there.  At  Dayton  he  was  again  with  us  during  our 
Secretaries'  Conference  before  the  Convention  met.  He  ac- 
cepted the  call  from  Dayton  and  began  a  memorable  term  of 
service  in  that  city.  He  was  absent  from  only  three  meetings 
of  the  Secretaries'  Conference  between  1873  and  1890.  To 
the  conferences  of  '77  and  '78  he  read  interesting  pajiers  aud 


136  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

in  1888,  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  his  service  in  Dayton,  he  dealt 
by  special  request  with  the  congenial  theme:  ''The  advantage 
to  the  Secretary  and  the  work  of  patient  perseverance  in  one 
field."  He  continued  in  ofiice  another  fourteen  years,  and  at 
his  death  Dayton  mourned  the  loss  of  its  first  citizen. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

CONFERENCES  AND  CONVENTIONS  NEAR  AND  FAR 

Third  Year  as  General  Secretary 
1874-75 

Promptly  upon  the  adjournment  of  the  Dayton  Convention, 
the  Proceedings  with  its  supplement  (Year  Book  of  1874) 
was  issued.  The  tabulated  reports  of  four  hundred  Associa- 
tions showed  an  advance  beyond  the  preceding  year.  New 
features  were  reports  from  over  one  hundred  Associations  in 
Europe,  and  a  table  of  the  World  Conferences.  First  atten- 
tion was  also  given  to  a  financial  correspondence,  especially 
with  Associations  and  friends  absent  from  the  Convention, 
that  the  Committee  might  meet  the  most  pressing  calls  for 
extension  of  its  work  and  yet  never  again  come  to  a  Convention 
at  the  end  of  a  fiscal  year  with  the  report  of  a  deficit. 

An  important  extension  of  Association  work  at  the  South 
was  undertaken  this  year  (1875)  by  a  remarkable  tour  of 
George  A.  Hall,  Secretary  of  the  Washington,  D.  C,  Associa- 
tion, and  Thomas  K.  Cree,  formerly  General  Secretary  at 
Pittsburgh,  and  now  Secretary  of  the  Special  Indian  Com- 
mission appointed  by  President  Grant.  During  the  eighty- 
two  days  devoted  to  this  work,  thirty-one  cities  were  visited, 
from  Hagerstown,  Maryland,  to  Houston,  Texas.  It  was  the 
most  thorough  visitation  yet  accomplished  at  the  South  and 
a  wise  preliminary  to  the  meeting  of  the  next  Convention,  to 
be  held  at  Richmond,  Va. 

Another  significant  tour  of  visitation  was  made  in  the  in- 
terests of  German  speaking  young  men  bj^  Frederick  Von 
Schluembach.  According  to  the  plan  he  suggested  at  Dayton 
he  had  summoned  to  Baltimore,  in  October,  1874,  in  the  name 
of  the  Committee,  a  meeting  of  a  National  Bund  of  German 
Associations.  Chairman  Brainerd  and  I  were  present  and 
welcomed  the  Bund  as  an  auxiliary  of  our  Convention,  Von 
Schluembach  was  chosen  General  Secretary  and  consented 
to  make  a  tour  of  investigation  and  organization.    He  visited 

137 


138  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

wisely  selected  cities  in  twelve  states,  from  New  Haven,  Conn., 
to  Louisville,  St,  Louis,  and  St.  Paul,  and  in  the  next  Year 
Book  a  tabulated  report  of  thirty  German  speaking  Associa- 
tions was  given.  Special  funds  for  both  these  tours  were 
secured,  and  James  Stokes,  Jr.,  a  member  of  the  Committee, 
generously  gave  his  invaluable  help.  Half  of  the  amount 
needed — 11,600 — was  given  in  New  York  City. 

Tivo  Phases  of  Association  Work 

The  correspondence  was  greatl}-  increased  by  these  and  other 
calls.  I  attended  five  State  and  Provincial  Conventions. 
Weidensall  attended  also  one  State,  one  County,  and  two 
District  Conventions  at  the  West,  and  Hall  and  Cree  three 
State  Conventions  at  the  South.  For  all  the  other  conventions, 
experienced  representatives  of  the  Committee  were  secured. 
Contact  with  the  conventions  made  it  evident  that  the  general 
evangelistic  work  was  still  growing  in  New  England.  To 
Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire,  Vermont  was  added,  and 
one  thousand  conversions  reported  in  that  state.  The  develop- 
ment of  local  Association  work  in  the  large  cities  and  search 
for  qualified  Secretaries  as  essential  factors  in  this  develop- 
ment did  not  appear  in  their  program,  nor  among  the  results 
of  their  State  work.  But  the  work  was  helpful  to  the  churches 
and  communities  of  the  places  visited.  It  excited  profound 
gratitude  to  the  earnest,  exemplary  laymen  who  were  carrying 
it  on.  They  were  promoting  the  good  name,  and  were  seeking 
to  promote  equally  the  efficiency  of  the  Associations,  but  the 
distinctive  work  for  young  men  was  not  developed  by  it.  A 
better  way  to  do  this,  their  fellow  workers  in  other  states 
were  discovering.  In  due  time  the  same  discovery  would  be 
made  in  New  England. 

Of  the  six  State  Committees  which  this  year  reported  the 
employment  of  State  Secretaries,  only  one — that  of  Pennsyl- 
vania— was  carrying  on  a  work  of  visitation  which  was  con- 
cerned chiefly  with  promoting  distinctive  work  by  and  for 
young  men.  The  other  five  were  doing  "general  evangelistic 
work  on  the  New  England  plan," 

Second  Harrisburg  Conference 

The  Dayton  Convention  authorized  the  holding  of  confer- 
ences similar  to  the  one  held  in  Harrisburg,  and  in  response 


CONFERENCES  AND  CONVENTIONS  139 

to  James  McCormick's  second  invitation,  a  second  confer- 
ence, larger  than  the  first,  met  in  his  home  January  2(ith, 
1875.  The  results  of  the  first  meeting  and  its  influence  in 
increasing  contributions  offered  at  Dayton  were  carefully 
reviewed.  The  extension  of  the  work  through  visitation  in 
the  South  and  among  the  Germans  was  considered  in  the 
light  of  the  tax  they  laid  upon  the  treasury.  It  was  very 
clearly  seen  that  continued  special  effort  must  be  made  to 
secure  help  from  friends  who  did  not  attend  the  Convention. 

Russell  Sturgis,  Jr.,  promised  to  interest  friends  in  Boston, 
Porter  and  Jennings  offered  to  add  to  the  list  in  Pittsburgh. 
It  was  now  that  James  McCormick  became  the  Committee's 
second  annual  contributor  of  |500,  a  sum  which  Wm.  E.  Dodge 
had  for  some  time  been  giving  annually.  The  corresponding 
members  of  the  Committee  for  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and 
Michigan  united  and  held  together  parlor  conferences  at  Fort 
Wayne,  Ind.  As  a  result  of  increasing  solicitude  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  Committee's  work,  the  money  for  both  tours  of 
visitation  was  fully  secured. 

Erskine  Uhl — Office  Secretary 

The  growing  responsibilities  of  the  General  Secretary, 
created  by  the  growth  of  the  work,  made  necessary  a  competent 
OflBce  Secretary.  For  several  years  I  had  become  intimately 
acquainted  with  Erskine  Uhl,  then  Secretary  of  the  Pough- 
keepsie  Association,  an  active  member  of  the  State  Com- 
mittee, and  also  corresponding  member  for  New  York  of  the 
International  Committee.  His  superior  ability  in  office  work 
and  administration  fitted  him,  as  I  thought,  to  do  the  best  work 
of  which  he  was  capable  in  such  an  office  as  that  of  the  In- 
ternational Committee.  Visiting  Poughkeepsie,  I  found  that 
those  who  knew  him  best  agreed  to  the  wisdom  of  such  a 
change  for  him.  These  friends  offered  subscriptions  to  an 
amount  (|700)  which  justified  the  Committee  in  adding  to 
its  staff  this  urgently  needed  Office  Secretary.  His  teacher 
in  the  Sunday  school  which  he  attended  as  a  boy  headed  the 
list  of  donors.  As  I  was  leaving  Poughkeepsie,  my  friend 
Edmund  P.  Piatt,  the  President,  who  was  one  of  the  donors, 
said  to  me :  "Do  you  not  think  it  somewhat  unseemly  on  your 
part  not  only  to  take  away  our  Secretary,  but  to  take  from 


140  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

US  also  the  money  your  Committee  needs  to  keep  him?"  "Not 
if  I  can  send  you  a  stronger  man  as  a  substitute,"  I  replied, 
"and  this  I  promise  to  endeavor  to  do."  As  a  result  of  such 
promise  and  endeavor  Secretary  George  A.  Hall,  of  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  began  to  earn  his  title  of  "Discoverer  of  General 
Secretaries,"  by  calling  my  attention  to  a  well-qualified  young 
man  in  that  city,  William  H.  Morriss,  who  was  promptly 
secured  by  the  Poughkeepsie  Association  and  for  six  years 
proved  a  most  acceptable  Secretary,  until  he  was  called  to 
Baltimore  where  he  is  now  (1917)  spending  the  thirty-fifth 
year  of  his  second  secretaryship,  full  of  blessing  upon  the 
young  men  and  boys  of  that  great  city — a  Christian  citizen 
of  first  rank  and  commanding  influence.  In  the  summer 
of  1875  Erskine  Uhl  began  in  the  Committee's  office  an  in- 
valuable work  in  which  he  continued  with  growing  efficiency 
for  thirty-two  years  until  the  close  of  his  life.  It  was  the 
beginning  of  a  business  efficiency  in  our  office  administra- 
tion for  which  I  was  wholly  incompetent,  but  which  was  so 
carefully  fostered  by  this  admirable  Office  Secretary  and  his 
successors  that  it  has  grown  as  steadily  as  the  Committee's 
work  itself  in  extent,  complexity,  and  efficiency. 

The  Richmond  Convention,  1815 

The  fact  that  the  Convention  was  meeting  this  year  in  the 
South  made  it  very  desirable  that  the  sessions  should  be 
presided  over  by  a  qualified  leader  from  that  section  of  the 
country.  Major  Joseph  Hardie,  of  Selma,  Alabama,  an  ex- 
Confederate  Army  officer,  and  a  public-spirited  citizen  of  his 
city  and  state,  was  a  delegate  qualified  for  the  position.  A 
graduate  of  Princeton  College  in  the  class  of  1856,  he  had 
been  actively  identified  with  the  Association  work  before 
the  Civil  War,  and  had  been  prominent  and  influential  in 
creating,  in  Alabama,  the  first  state  organization  formed  in 
that  section  of  the  country.  Not  long  after  his  death,  at  an 
advanced  age,  in  1914,  Mrs.  Hardie  told  me  that  he  had  left 
an  estate  of  only  |15,000,  yet  during  his  life  he  had  given  to 
good  objects  over  .|250,000.  "He  would  have  left  a  larger 
estate,"  she  added,  "if  I  had  not  been  fully  provided  for 
financiallj."  Soon  after  our  interview  she  also  passed  on 
to  her  reward. 


CONFERENCES  AND  CONVENTIONS  141 

Both  Cree  and  I,  while  iu  the  South,  had  met  Major 
Hardie,  and  knew  him  very  well.  He  thus  describes  Mc- 
Buruey's  vigilant  connection  with  the  Major's  election  as 
President :  "At  the  Richmond  Convention  in  1875,  McBurney 
came  to  me  and  said,  'The  New  England  brethren  want  to  make 
a  New  England  man  President  of  this  Convention.  It  will 
never  do  for  a  New  England  Yankee  to  hold  that  position.' 
We  decided  that  Major  Hardie  was  the  man  for  the  place. 
Now,  as  far  as  I  know,  there  was  not  a  soul  in  that  Con- 
vention who  had  heard  of  Hardie,  except  Hall,  McBumey, 
Morse,  and  myself,  but  he  was  made  President  of  the  Con- 
vention. The  Lord's  hand  was  in  it,  as  well  as  McBurney's. 
But  McBurney  was  the  agent  who  did  the  business." 

The  third  triennial  term  of  the  International  Committee 
ended  at  the  Richmond  Convention.  Without  discussion,  but 
with  enthusiastic  expression  of  appreciation  its  seven  mem- 
bers were  reelected.  To  them  were  added  two  members,  Wil- 
liam E.  Dodge,  Jr.,  and  Morris  K.  Jesup,  making  a  quorum  of 
nine  resident  in  New  York.  Fifteen  additional  members  from 
other  cities  were  also  chosen.  Among  them  were  Thane  Miller, 
of  Cincinnati,  James  McCormick,  Jr.,  of  Harrisburg,  H.  Kirke 
Porter,  of  Pittsburgh,  Russell  Sturgis,  Jr.,  of  Boston,  Joseph 
Hardie,  of  Selma,  and  John  S.  Maclean,  of  Halifax — men  well 
selected  from  among  those  who  had  become  intelligently  sym- 
pathetic with  the  program  and  objective  of  the  Committee's 
work. 

Work  among  Railroad,  German,  and  College  Young  Men 

In  the  topic  discussed  at  the  Dayton  Convention :  "How  can 
the  Association  reach  all  classes  of  young  men?"  emphasis  was 
laid  upon  work  among  railroad  men,  German  citizens,  and 
college  students.  This  emphasis  was  increased  at  Richmond. 
The  Cleveland  delegates  came  with  a  definite  proposition. 
They  had  put  in  a  bank  over  |200  which  was  offered  to  the 
International  Committee,  for  the  promotion  by  an  Interna- 
tional Secretary  of  Association  work  among  railroad  men. 
After  full  discussion  the  Committee  was  authorized  to  accept 
the  proposal. 

Such  testimonies  were  given  by  delegates  from  the  South 
concerning  results  of  the  tour  of  Cree  and  Hall,  that  a  con- 


142  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

tinuation  of  the  work  was  importunately  requested.  A  larger 
staff  for  the  Committee  was  advocated  on  the  floor  of  the  Con- 
vention. Dr.  William  Nast,  for  nearly  forty  years  a  worker 
and  leader  in  the  American  German  Methodist  Church,  spoke 
of  what  von  Schluembach  had  accomplished  and  pled  for  this 
work  on  behalf  of  his  German  speaking  fellow  countrymen. 
Before  the  adjournment  at  Richmond  the  delegates  listened 
for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  Conventions  to  an 
urgent  plea  for  an  extension  of  the  work  of  its  Committee 
among  students  in  schools  and  colleges. 

In  November,  1874,  I  improved  an  opportunity  to  meet  with 
a  group  of  Yale  students  in  New  Haven  and  later  in  the  fol- 
lowing winter  made  a  stronger  effort  to  promote  at  Yale  a 
beginning  of  Student  Association  Work.  President  Noah 
Porter,  who  had  been  one  of  my  instructors  and  friends  during 
my  college  course,  came  to  New  York  to  address  the  City 
Association.  As  the  guest  of  its  President,  William  E.  Dodge, 
Jr.,  I  met  him  at  dinner  and  expressed  the  strong  conviction 
I  felt  that  the  class  deacons  and  other  Christian  students  at 
Yale  would  be  helped  in  the  good  work  they  were  doing  by  the 
adoption  of  some  of  the  methods  which  had  been  tested  and 
found  effective  by  our  Associations  in  their  work  among  young 
men.  The  President  was  favorably  impressed  and  asked  me 
whether  I  would  present  the  subject  to  a  meeting  of  students 
whom  he  would  be  glad  to  call  together  for  the  purpose. 

Accordingly  a  few  weeks  afterward  (February,  1875)  in 
one  of  the  large  upper  rooms  of  Alumni  Hall — a  building  since 
removed — I  met  about  two  hundred  undergraduates,  including 
the  deacons  of  the  different  classes.  President  Porter  presided, 
and  after  his  introduction  they  listened  to  as  strong  an  appeal 
as  I  could  make  for  the  change  which  seemed  to  me  desirable. 
After  the  public  meeting  was  over  the  class  deacons  tarried 
for  a  conversation  with  me,  and  some  of  them  seemed  to  be 
favorably  impressed.  At  that  time,  however,  no  change  re- 
sulted, chiefly  because  my  time  and  energies  were  so  absorbed 
by  other  duties  that  I  could  not  improve  the  opportunity  pre- 
sented. 

A  year  later  I  learne<l  that  what  I  was  attempting,  was  at 
that  very  time  beginning  to  be  accomplished  by  an  undergrad- 
uate at  Princeton.     Luther  D.  Wishard,  the  student  whom 


CONFERENCES  AND  CONVENTIONS  143 

Weidensall  had  met  and  influenced  in  1871,  and  who  in  the 
following  year  had  been  a  student  delegate  at  the  Lowell  Con- 
vention, was  now  at  Princeton  in  his  junior  year.  Being  still 
an  undergraduate,  he  had  a  better  opportunity  than  I  to  ac- 
complish in  his  senior  year  the  Student  Association  organi- 
zation which  we  both  at  that  time  believed  would  be  a  change 
for  the  better  in  the  methods  followed  by  Christian  students 
in  carrying  on  Christian  work  in  college. 

In  this  endeavor  to  promote  Student  Association  Work,  an- 
other interesting  interview  occurred  this  year  with  my  friend, 
President  Martin  B.  Anderson,  of  Rochester  University,  who 
consented  to  prepare  for  our  Convention  at  Richmond,  a  paper 
on  Association  work  in  colleges.  Though  he  was  not  able  to 
attend  and  present  his  paper  at  Richmond,  I  read  to  the 
delegates  his  convincing  treatment  of  the  subject.  It  closed- 
with  an  expression  of  confident  expectation  of  "the  time  when 
your  organization  will  be  represented  in  all  the  colleges  and 
schools  of  our  land.  Let  your  Secretary  visit  these  young 
men,  and  let  them  have  your  sympathy  and  cooperation." 
Not  long  after  this,  both  Convention  and  Committee  were 
able,  in  accord  with  this  appeal  of  President  Anderson,  to 
plant  Associations  in  colleges. 

This  and  the  other  calls  for  a  larger  staff  were  very  urgent. 
Instead  of  temporary  visitors  at  the  South,  and  among  German 
young  men  and  railroad  employes,  permanent  workers  must 
be  secured,  and  a  work  among  students  must  be  part  of  the 
program  of  the  Committee.  This  called  for  an  increase  in 
the  annual  budget  not  of  twenty,  but  of  fifty  per  cent. 

The  Committee  had  come  to  the  Convention  with  no  deficit, 
although  its  annual  expenditure  had  exceeded  by  nearly  thirty 
per  cent  that  of  the  previous  year.  This  solvency  had  been 
accomplished  more  speedily  than  was  anticipated  at  Dayton. 
It  was  a  great  surprise  and  encouragement  for  me  to  receive 
an  enthusiastic  standing  vote  of  thanks  from  the  Convention. 
What  had  been  accomplished  financially  was  due  to  obtaining 
money  by  other  appeals  than  those  made  at  this  annual  Con- 
vention. Indeed,  much  of  what  was  offered  by  delegates  at 
Dayton,  and  still  more  of  the  subscriptions  announced  at 
Richmond,  were  due  to  a  solicitation  between  Conventions  by 
correspondence,  parlor  conference,  and  personal  effort. 


144  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

For  the  coming  year  a  budget  of  |20,000  was  voted.  But 
pledges  announced  on  the  floor  amounted  to  less  than  half 
this  sum  and  of  these  the  largest  were  offered  on  behalf  of 
absent  donors  who  already  had  been  enlisted.  The  continu- 
ance of  their  support  was  based  on  the  continuance  of  suc- 
cessful solicitation. 

Fellowship  With  the  South 

The  event  of  the  Convention  was  the  coming  together  more 
intimately  than  in  any  meeting  since  the  Civil  War  of  fellow 
workers  from  north  and  south.  At  the  very  impressive  fare- 
well meeting,  Russell  Sturgis,  Jr.,  of  Boston,  who  had  been 
an  officer  in  the  Union  Army,  said :  "There  is  no  such  brother- 
hood in  the  social  sphere  as  binds  together  the  members  of  this 
convention.  We  are  fellow  citizens  of  a  city  of  heavenly 
foundations.  We  hold  indeed  many  differing  opinions.  On 
this  platform  stand  two  at  least  who  on  opposite  sides  in  the 
late  Civil  War  took  their  lives  in  their  hands,  both  of  tliem — 
I  say  it  very  deliberately — on  principle  (applause).  This 
blessed  bond  of  Jesus  united  us  even  in  those  times  of  conflict, 
so  that  as  I  rode  beside  a  Confederate  officer  and  learned  he 
was  a  Christian  man,  we  were  on  the  instant  united  firmly, 
to  the  wonder  of  the  troop  who  rode  behind  us.  Of  this  blessed 
fellowship  we  have  experienced  in  this  Association  and  its 
work,  a  foretaste  of  what  we  are  to  realize  by  and  by  in  the 
assembly  of  the  just  made  perfect.  God  keep  us  very  humble 
that  we  may  have  the  spirit  of  Paul  when  he  wrote:  'I  was 
with  you  in  weakness,  and  in  fear,  and  in  much  trembling 
.  .  .  but  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power.'  "^ 

"After  a  profound  silence,"  says  the  report,  "broken  only  by 
sobs  here  and  there  in  the  audience,  a  beautiful  solo  was  sung 
and  the  whole  congregation  rose  and  joined  in  singing.  After 
many  requests  for  prayer  there  followed  a  season  of  praise 
and  intercession."  Friendships  that  were  lifelong  and  fruit- 
ful in  Christian  work  were  among  the  results  of  this  Con- 
vention. 

Two  urgent  offers  were  received  to  entertain  the  Convention 
of  the  centennial  year  of  1870.  One  of  these  came  from 
Toronto,  Canada,  and  the  other  from  Chicago.     According  to 

'  Proceedings  of  the  Twentieth  National  Convention,  p.  109. 


CONFERENCES  AND  CONVENTIONS  145 

the  usual  rule,  five  minutes  were  accorded  for  the  presentation 
and  advocacy  of  each  invitation.  Two  speakers  divided  the  five 
minutes  given  to  each.  After  the  four  pleas  had  been  listened 
to  and  before  the  vote  was  taken  the  President  called  on  a 
delegate  to  offer  prayer.  The  good  brother  happened  to  be 
ardently  in  favor  of  accepting  the  invitation  from  Chicago, 
and  could  not  resist  indicating  this  preference  in  a  prayer 
that  was  of  an  argumentative  character,  and  not  restricted 
by  a  time  limit.  At  its  close  the  vote  was  taken.  The  tellers 
reported  ninety-four  in  favor  of  Toronto  and  eighty-eight  for 
Chicago.  Often  afterward  I  heard  from  fellow  delegates  of 
a  discerning  mind,  that  in  their  opinion  if  that  prayer  had 
not  been  offered  the  Chicago  invitation  would  have  been  ac- 
cepted! But  it  was  very  fitting  that  the  Convention  of  1876 
should  meet  under  the  British  and  Canadian  flags  as  token 
of  the  loyalty  of  the  brotherhood  to  the  International  bond 
of  peace  and  fellowship  which  had  united  the  two  nationalities 
from  the  beginning  of  these  Conventions  in  1854. 

Though  the  Convention  adjourned  at  the  end  of  May,  the 
report  of  the  proceedings,  with  a  supplement  of  tables,  a 
pamphlet  of  two  hundred  and  nine  pages,  was  published  in 
season  for  me  to  carry  copies  in  July  to  the  World's  Confer- 
ence at  Hamburg. 

Fourth  Year  op  the  General  Secretaryship 
1875-76 

The  World's  Conference  of  1875 

At  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  year  as  General  Secretary, 
part  of  the  summer  was  spent  in  the  first  trip  undertaken 
solely  to  represent  the  Committee  at  the  World's  Conference. 
For  this  triennial  meeting  at  Hamburg  in  August,  1875,  two 
American  papers  had  been  prepared  in  response  to  the  report 
brought  three  years  before  by  McBurney  and  myself  concerning 
the  previous  conference  at  Amsterdam. 

The  theme  of  one  paper  was  "The  Christian  and  Social  Im- 
portance of  the  Associations  in  North  America"  by  Benjamin 
C.  Wetmore,  Treasurer  of  the  Committee.  In  the  other,  "What 
Has  Been  Accomplished  by  the  North  American  Associations" 
I  sought  to  give  the  facts  about  the  work  on  this  continent. 
At  the  suggestion   of  Chairman  Brainerd,  both,  papers  had 


146  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

been  translated,  and  were  printed  in  French,  German,  and 
Dutch,  as  well  as  in  English,  for  circulation  at  Hamburg.  In 
packing  them  for  shipment  copies  were  added  of  the  few 
pamphlets  on  the  work  and  on  the  secretaryship  then  in 
circulation. 

For  this  journey  and  its  successors,  undertaken  for  the  fol- 
lowing twenty  years  to  attend  World's  Conferences,  there  was 
no  money  in  the  Committee's  treasury.  But  I  felt  able  to  make 
this  journey  at  my  own  expense.  McBurney  went  to  the 
steamer  with  me,  to  say  good-bye,  and  I  remember  being  sur- 
prised that  he  did  not  then  share  my  feeling  of  obligation  to 
carry  a  message  concerning  our  work  to  a  Conference  which 
three  years  before  we  had  found  was  out  of  touch  with  our 
North  American  Associations,  though  these  formed  the  strong- 
est of  the  movements  the  Conference  was  created  to  represent 
and  to  serve. 

For  the  first — and  as  it  proved,  the  only  time — I  set  out 
on  this  tour  abroad  unaccompanied.  On  the  way  to  Hamburg 
a  week  was  spent  in  London,  renewing  and  increasing  acquaint- 
ance with  the  brethren.  The  pleasure  experienced  was  greatly 
promoted  by  the  fact  that  the  first  remarkable  evangelistic 
campaign  of  Moody  and  Sankey  in  Great  Britain  had  just 
then  been  completed,  including  a  notable  work  in  London 
itself.  In  all  the  places  where  the  influence  of  these  two 
friends  and  fellow  workers  was  felt,  their  words  of  commen- 
dation of  the  Association  had  promoted  its  work.  This  was 
emphatically  true  in  London. 

At  Hamburg  it  was  a  great  pleasure  to  meet  again  Christian 
King  and  Pastor  Krumniacher  from  Germany,  Pastor  Paul 
Cook  from  Paris,  Von  Oosterwicjk  Bruyn,  of  Holland,  and 
George  Williams,  Shipton,  Hind  Smith,  and  other  British  dele- 
gates— some  of  whom  were  at  Amsterdam  three  years  before, 
and  all  of  whom  since  then  had  been  helped  in  their  work  by 
the  cooperation  of  Moody  and  Sankey.  William  F.  Lee,  a 
director  of  the  New  York  Association,  and  a  former  treasurer 
of  the  International  Committee,  met  me  in  Hamburg,  as  a  fel- 
low delegate.  Each  of  us  read  one  of  the  American  papers, 
copies  of  which  were  distributed  to  the  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five  delegates  present  from  seven  countries.  For  the 
first  time  in.  the  history  of  the  Conference,  every  delegate  was 


CONFERENCES  AND  CONVENTIONS  147 

able  to  follow  two  of  the  speakers  iu  a  language  which  he 
could  understaud.  This  was  greatly  appreciated,  and  at  the 
close  there  was  an  unprecedented  opportunity  for  delegates 
to  ask  questions  and  enter  promptly  into  a  discussion.  This 
greatly  promoted  a  better  understanding  by  the  delegates  of 
the  work  of  a  group  of  Associations  more  numerous,  with  a 
larger  membership,  and  engaged  in  a  work  broader,  more 
diversified,  better  equipped,  and  more  strongly  manned  than 
was  as  yet  being  accomplished  in  any  of  the  countries  where 
Associations  had  been  organized. 

This  innovation  met  with  hearty  approval  and  at  succeeding 
Conferences  was  followed  by  delegates  from  other  countries. 
Shipton  was  among  the  conservative  minority.  While  the 
American  papers  were  being  read  he  absented  himself,  apolo- 
gizing to  me  afterward  by  saying  that  he  knew  he  would 
be  able  afterward  to  read  them.  But  when  lively  discussion 
followed  the  reading,  as  in  duty  bound,  he  promptly  returned 
to  the  hall  to  listen.  He  was  very  frankly  distrustful  of  any 
propaganda  of  a  work,  the  method  and  scope  of  which  he  dis- 
trusted as  tending  to  minimize,  and  make  less  permeating  and 
controlling,  the  positive  religious  and  spiritual  activities  of 
Association  workers. 

As  at  Amsterdam  three  years  before,  so  now  iu  Hamburg, 
I  became  aware  that  these  views  and  apprehensions  were  not 
shared  by  many  of  his  British  fellow  delegates.  Secretary 
W,  Hind  Smith,  of  Manchester,  who  had  been  in  Dayton  at  our 
Convention  and  also  at  the  Secretaries'  Conference,  could  not 
agree  with  the  convictions  of  Shipton.  The  work  and  influ- 
ence of  Moody  had  also  given  favorable  impressions  concerning 
Association  work  in  America, 

Returning  home  through  England,  I  visited  several  Associa- 
tions. It  was  my  first  experience  of  a  tour  of  this  character 
in  Europe.  At  every  place  cordial  hospitality  was  extended 
to  me.  A  hotel  was  rarely  resorted  to.  In  London  and 
Birmingham  at  the  Sunday  afternoon  Bible  classes ;  in  Bristol 
and  Manchester  at  meetings  of  the  managing  committees;  in 
Liverpool  at  a  conference  of  the  Associations  of  that  neighbor- 
hood; and  in  Glasgow  at  a  meeting  of  the  young  men  active 
in  the  work,  opportunity  was  enjoyed  to  get  acquainted  with 
interesting  phases  of  the  Association  work. 


148  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

At  Ryde,  on  the  Isle  of  Wight,  entertainment  at  the  "Home 
for  Rest  and  Recreation  for  Commercial  Young  Men"  was  car- 
ried on  by  the  united  efforts  of  the  Associations  in  London 
and  Ryde.  This  was  an  excellent  undertaking  to  which  George 
Williams  had  substantially  contributed,  and  by  means  of 
which  over  four  hundred  young  men  enjoyed  wholesome  holi- 
day recreation  each  year.  It  suggested  the  need  of  similar 
vacation  provision  by  our  own  Associations.  Another  feature 
of  the  work  specially  worthy  of  imitation  was  the  serving  of 
tea  after  Bible  classes,  and  at  other  times,  a  hospitality  in 
vogue  among  the  British  Associations,  and  already  followed 
by  McBurney  in  connection  with  his  Sunday  afternoon  Bible 
class. 

During  my  return  voyage,  on  the  steamer  Ethiopia  of  the 
Anchor  Line,  I  experienced  the  only  serious  accident  that 
has  befallen  me  while  crossing  the  Atlantic  over  forty  times. 
Some  thirteen  hundred  miles  east  of  New  York  a  section  of 
our  shaft  broke.  Captain  Craig  was  the  Commodore  of  the 
Line.  Kennedy,  its  chief  engineer,  was  in  the  engine  room,  so 
we  were  in  good  hands.  The  steamer,  like  most  ocean  liners 
at  that  time,  was  rigged  with  masts  and  sails,  and  the  rule, 
in  case  of  such  an  accident,  was  for  the  steamer  to  seek  the 
port,  whether  of  departure  or  destination,  to  which  prevalent 
winds  could  carry  her  by  sail.  This  rule  called  for  our  return 
to  Glasgow,  but  Kennedy  proposed  to  the  Captain  an  alter- 
native. On  a  previous  voyage  in  a  similar  emergency,  this 
engineer,  while  the  steamer  was  returning  under  sail  and 
within  ninety  miles  of  Glasgow,  had  succeeded  in  splicing  the 
shaft  so  that  the  remaining  distance  was  accomplished  under 
her  own  steam.  Captain  Craig  now  granted  Kennedy's  re- 
quest, that  he  be  allowed  again  to  splice  the  shaft.  With  his 
men  the  engineer  spent  the  following  ten  days  in  the  tunnel, 
where  the  workers  could  not  stand  upright,  but  where  they 
accomplished  the  difi&cult  job.  During  this  time,  by  the  use  of 
her  sails,  the  steamer  was  prevented  from  going  to  the  east- 
ward, though  no  progress  was  made  westward. 

The  ship's  company,  including  the  crew  and  a  steerage  full 
of  emigrants,  numbered  over  eleven  hundred  persons.  Among 
the  passengers  was  the  late  Samuel  J.  Barrows,  who  was  after- 
ward widely  known  and  honored  in  the  pulpit,  and  later,  as 


CONFERENCES  AND  CONVENTIONS  149 

one  of  the  leading  penologists  of  onr  country.  He  was  equally 
prominent  in  the  cause  of  international  peace.  Indeed  in  every 
situation  he  was  ready  to  take  the  lead  in  any  good  work.  He 
and  his  wife  joined  heartily  in  efforts  to  entertain  and  occupy 
the  minds  of  this  large  ship's  company.  Both  were  good  lec- 
turers and  offered  entertainment  in  that  line.  Mrs.  Jarley's 
waxworks  also  were  successfully  presented.  Accounts  of  my 
ascent  of  Mt.  Blanc  and  other  adventures  were  in  demand. 
Another  welcome  helper  was  a  fellow  student  at  Yale,  who 
was  for  a  time  a  classmate,  Professor  Adrian  J.  Ebell,  direc- 
tor of  "The  International  Academy  of  Natural  Science."  He 
was  returning  home  from  a  trip  abroad  with  a  class  of  his 
pupils.  He  lectured  on  the  deep  sea,  its  animal  life;  also  on 
the  flora  of  the  ocean,  calling  our  attention  to  the  vegetable 
life  on  its  surface,  and  one  very  quiet  day  he  was  lowered  over 
the  side  of  the  vessel  to  gather  specimens  for  his  next  lecture. 
The  chief  steward  was  puzzled  how  to  keep  up  his  bill  of  fare. 
We  were  reduced  to  three  meals  a  day,  and  his  stock  of  canned 
materials,  provided  against  emergencies,  was  rapidly  disap- 
pearing. 

Every  day,  toward  evening,  Mr.  Barrows  and  I  conducted 
a  service  of  song  in  the  steerage,  with  reading  of  Scripture, 
comment,  and  prayer.  The  hymn  which  became  the  favorite 
at  these  services  was  "Safe  in  the  Arms  of  Jesus,"  and  I  never 
listen  to  the  singing  of  it  without  recalling  vividly  that  scene 
and  audience  on  shipboard.  While  the  shaft  was  being  spliced, 
the  small  steamer  Maas,  on  her  way  to  New  York,  came  within 
hailing  distance.  The  mail  we  were  carrying  was  passed  over 
to  her,  and  the  Captain  sent  word  that  though  delayed  we 
declined  assistance.  This  message,  in  the  absence  of  wire- 
less telegraphy,  carried  to  our  friends  at  home  some  assurance 
concerning  our  safety. 

On  the  eleventh  day  the  shaft  was  spliced  and  we  began  to 
move  westward  at  half  speed.  After  a  little  progress  we 
again  stopped  and  another  day  was  needed  for  final  repairs. 
Twenty-three  days  from  Glasgow  we  welcomed  the  green  shores 
of  Long  Island !  It  was  a  beautiful  sunny  day,  and  every  one 
was  on  deck  to  attend  the  praise  service  which  had  been  an- 
nounced. I  read  a  part  of  the  107th  Psalm,  and  verses  of  praise 
and  thanksgiving  from  other  Psalms.    As  often  as  I  repeated 


150  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

the  refrain :  "Oh,  that  men  would  praise  the  Lord  for  His 
goodness  and  for  His  wonderful  works  to  the  children  of 
men,"  the  audience  sang  the  familiar  line,  "For  His  mercy 
endureth  forever."  At  first  only  a  few  voices  took  part,  but 
gradually  the  volume  of  sound  increased,  until  from  a  thousand 
voices  the  music  of  a  unanimous  thanksgiving  floated  over  the 
ocean.  It  was  one  of  the  most  impressive  services  of  song  I 
ever  listened  to.  Mr.  Barrows  wrote  some  verses  on  this 
voyage  and  our  experiences  which  I  deeply  regret  not  having 
preserved.  When  the  story  of  his  "Sunny  Life,"  so  admirably 
told  by  Mrs.  Barrows,  was  recently  published,  it  was  a  disap- 
pointment not  to  find  in  the  supplement,  among  his  hymns  and 
other  verses,  those  written  during  this  voyage.  An  admirable 
article  by  him  appeared  in  the  Scientific  American,  fittingly 
describing  the  feat  engineer  Kennedy  had  accomplished.  We 
were  told  at  the  time  that  this  was  the  first  instance  in  ocean 
navigation  when  a  shaft  was  spliced  so  successfully.  The 
steamer  was  allowed  by  the  authorities  to  return  to  Glasgow 
in  ballast,  under  her  own  steam,  without  further  substantial 
repair. 

State  Conventions  and  Parlor  Conferences 

This  detention  on  the  sea  prevented  my  attendance  upon  the 
New  York  State  Convention,  one  of  the  25  held  this  year  to 
which  416  Associations  sent  1,517  delegates.  At  all  these 
Conventions  in  Canada  and  the  United  States,  the  Committee 
was  represented,  and  I  was  able  to  attend  four  of  the  number. 
Ten  of  the  twenty-five  Committees  were  employing  State  Secre- 
taries. New  York  had  secured  George  A.  Hall,  who  for  nearly 
ten  years  had  been  the  efficient  General  Secretary  of  the  Asso- 
ciation at  the  National  Capital.  Dr.  Munhall,  as  Indiana 
Secretary,  was  emphasizing  work  for  young  men  while  also 
doing  the  work  of  an  evangelist.  The  general  evangelistic 
work  still  prevailed  in  the  other  states. 

In  the  development  of  the  International  Work  and  workers 
this  was  a  year  (1875-6)  of  promise,  although  it  continued 
to  be  a  year  of  financial  depression  throughout  the  country. 
Ever  since  the  autumn  of  1873  this  depression  had  continued. 
So  invariable,  if  not  monotonous,  had  become  the  confession 
of  the  donors:  "You  know  we  are  losinsj  money  this  year  and 


CONFERENCES  AND  CONVENTIONS  151 

.  .  .  ,"  that  it  was  a  startling  surprise  when,  for  the  first 
time  in  years,  I  heard  the  acknowledgment  from  one  of  our 
friends  that  his  business  was  in  good  condition  and  he  could 
increase  his  contribution. 

Only  two  conferences  of  the  Harrisburg  type  were  held  in 
this  year.  The  first  met  in  Baltimore  at  the  home  of  Mr.  W. 
W.  Spence.  William  E.  Dodge,  Jr.,  was  the  member  of  the 
Committee  who  agreed  to  preside.  We  journeyed  together  to 
Baltimore,  and  he  assumed  the  part  of  a  friendly  doubter  as 
to  the  promise  and  prospect  of  the  Association  work — local. 
State,  and  International.  In  this  clever,  characteristic  way 
he  became  posted,  by  hearing  from  me  the  best  plea  for  the 
entire  work  which  could  then  be  made  in  the  light  of  recent 
developments.  He  presided,  as  always,  in  excellent  winning 
form.  A  new  group  of  friends  became  interested  in  a  knowl- 
edge and  understanding  of  the  work  of  the  Committee,  more 
intimate  than  could  be  obtained  in  public  and  less  conversa- 
tional meetings. 

At  the  invitation  of  John  V.  Farwell,  Senior,  a  second  con- 
ference met  in  Chicago,  at  the  Grand  Pacific  Hotel.  James 
McCormick,  Jr.,  came  from  Harrisburg  to  attend  and  preside. 
Both  conferences  confirmed  the  Committee  and  its  friends  in 
the  wisdom  of  promoting  the  holding  of  such  meetings.  It 
was  during  this  visit  to  Chicago  that  I  had  the  pleasure  for 
the  first  time,  of  meeting  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cyrus  H.  McCormick, 
who  became  friends  of  the  work,  Mrs.  McCormick  beginning 
that  lifelong  interest — continued  now  (1917)  for  over  forty 
years — in  the  International  section  of  it.  How  her  sympathy 
and  cooperation  have  been  among  the  strongest  factors  in 
promoting  the  world  wide  extension  of  the  work,  will  appear 
later  in  this  narrative.^ 

Beginning  of  the  Committee's  Railroad  Department 

Already  to  three  Conventions  delegates  had  reported,  with 
increasing  enthusiasm,  a  growing  Association  work  among  rail- 
road men.  To  the  Richmond  Convention  was  brought  the  offer 
of  money  and  a  man — Secretary  Lang  Sheaff,  of  Cleveland — 
for  temporary  service  in  extending  this  work,  and  during  the 
six  months  spent  by  Sheatf  in  this  service,  Railroad  Branches 

s  p.  381. 


152  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

were  begun  at  ten  railroad  centers,  including  Baltimore, 
Altoona,  Jersey  City,  Boston,  Springfield,  Massachusetts, 
Detroit,  and  New  York  City.  Wliat  was  accomplished  in  con- 
nection with  his  visit  to  New  York  was  most  vitally  related 
to  the  future  extension  of  the  Railroad  Work. 

This  was  due  to  our  enlistment  there  of  the  permanent  in- 
terest of  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  Jr.  He  was  then  Treasurer  of 
the  Harlem  branch  of  the  New  Y^'ork  Central  Koad,  of  which 
his  father,  William  H.  Vanderbilt,  was  Vice-President  and  his 
grandfather.  Commodore  Vanderbilt,  whose  name  he  bore,  and 
whose  confidence  he  enjoyed,  was  President.  The  private  secre- 
tary of  the  Vice-President  was  his  second  son,  William  K. 
Vanderbilt.  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  Jr.,  had  lately  become  a 
director  of  the  New  York  Association.  A  meeting  of  railroad 
men  to  hear  Mr.  Sheaff  had  been  arranged  for  a  Sunday  after- 
noon in  October,  1875,  in  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  freight 
depot  in  Jersey  City.  On  Saturday  I  called  at  the  office  of 
Mr.  Vanderbilt  to  ask  him  to  attend  this  meeting.  It  was  the 
first  time  we  had  met.  He  was  interested  in  my  story  about 
the  work  in  Cleveland,  and  especially  in  the  part  taken  by 
President  Devereux  in  encouraging  and  supporting  it.  He 
knew  that  Devereux  fully  commanded  the  confidence  of  his 
father  and  grandfather.  He  accepted  the  invitation  to  attend 
the  meeting  in  Jersey  City,  where  he  was  favorably  impressed 
by  Sheaflf's  address  and  asked  me  to  call  with  Sheaflf  at  his 
office.  This  led  to  the  opening  October  31, 1875,  of  well  equipped 
rooms  in  the  Grand  Central  Station.^  Later  Mr.  Vanderbilt 
became  Chairman  of  the  Railroad  Committee  of  the  New  York 
Association,  then  a  member  of  the  International  Committee 
and  chairman  of  its  Committee  in  charge  of  the  extension  of  the 
Railroad  Work.  Thus  under  his  vigilant  supervision  this  work 
was  carried  on  in  New  York  and  at  other  railroad  centers, 
where  it  was  carefully  adapted  to  local  conditions  and  the 
environment  of  railroad  employes.  James  Stokes  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  International  Committee  and  a  director  of  the 
New  York  Association  was  actively  identified  with  the  be- 
ginning of  this  Railroad  Branch.  At  Cleveland  he  had  be- 
come acquainted  with  Stager  and  Sheaff,  the  leaders  in  the 
work  there.     He  had  lent  a  hand  in  interesting  Mr.  Vander- 

3  Pp.  112-115,  390. 


I 


CONFERENCES  AND  CONVENTIONS  153 

bilt.  For  the  first  meeting  in  the  Grand  Central  Station, 
(Oct.  31,  1875)  he  had  provided  the  service  of  song,  and  in 
December  he  became  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Manage- 
ment of  the  Railroad  Branch  and  ever  since  for  forty-two 
years  has  continued  a  member. 

At  this  time,  in  conversation  with  Cyrus  W.  Field,  I  men- 
tioned the  growing  interest  of  Mr.  Vanderbilt  in  our  work. 
He  congratulated  me  and  added:  "Young  Vanderbilt  is  very 
highly  thought  of  by  his  grandfather.  The  Commodore  said 
to  me  the  other  day :  *I  am  very  proud  of  my  grandson  Corneel. 
He  is  a  trustworthy  young  man.  Do  you  know  I  would  be 
willing  to  send  him  abroad  with  a  blank  check  signed  by 
me.'  Such  a  remark  from  the  Commodore  is  certainly  very 
unusual."  Some  years  later,  after  the  death  of  the  grand- 
father, his  will  was  found  to  contain  a  special  bequest  to  this 
grandson,  which  gave  evidence  of  the  special  regard  for  him 
he  had  expressed  to  Cyrus  Field. 

Thomas  K.  Cree  heconies  an  International  Secretary 

Of  the  year  between  the  Richmond  and  Toronto  Conventions 
the  most  signal  event  for  me  was  the  securing  of  Thomas  K. 
Cree  as  a  Secretary  of  the  Committee.  The  term  of  President 
Grant's  Indian  Commission  had  expired,  and  very  promising 
opportunities  were  offered  to  Secretary  Cree  to  continue 
permanently  in  government  service  in  Washington.  Other 
opportunities  also  were  offered  of  a  return  to  business,  where 
he  had  been  very  successful.  Among  these  offers  was  one 
from  John  Wanamaker,  who  years  afterward  thus  writes  of 
it :  "I  invited  him  to  come  into  my  business  at  its  initial  stage. 
He  was  wise  enough  to  have  the  larger  vision  of  laying  up 
treasure  in  Heaven."  Four  years  before  this  time,  as  already 
mentioned,  I  had  been  anxious  to  secure  Cree's  cooperation 
on  the  staff  of  the  Committee  as  publisher  of  the  Association 
Monthly  because  of  his  ability  as  a  business  man,  and  his 
efficiency  and  consecration  as  an  Association  worker.  Both 
of  these  qualities  had  been  conspicuous  in  the  work  he  had 
done  in  the  South.  Probably  at  that  time  no  employed  officer 
in  the  brotherhood  was  his  superior  in  ability  and  efficiency. 

The  Richmond  Convention  had  authorized  an  annual  ex- 
penditure by  the  Committee  of  $20,000.     From  subscriptions 


154  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

offered  there,  less  than  |8,000  was  received.  Some  friends, 
appreciating  the  situation,  offered  special  help.  At  this  time 
I  made  my  first  call  on  William  Thaw,  the  Christian  philan- 
thropist of  Pittsburgh,  who  was  already-  an  annual  contributor 
of  $200.  For  one  hour  each  morning  Mr.  Thaw  answered  the 
front  door  bell  of  his  own  home  in  the  city,  and  was  willing 
to  listen  to  all  appeals  then  brought  to  him.  I  shall  never 
forget  that  first  interview!  He  listened  patiently  and  replied 
that  he  had  known  Thomas  Cree  for  many  years,  heartily  ap- 
proved the  plan  proposed,  and  would  like  to  give  the  whole 
sum  needed.  If  by  adding  |500  to  his  annual  subscription  he 
could  materially  help,  he  would  be  glad  to  promise  this  sum. 
This  contribution  justified  the  Committee  in  calling  Mr.  Cree. 
By  his  generous  act  Mr.  Thaw  joined  Messrs.  Dodge  and  Mc- 
Cormick  in  giving  regularly  more  than  any  other  annual 
donors  to  the  work  of  the  Committee,  and  for  some  time  his 
gift  of  |700  was  the  largest  of  the  three.  Later,  all  three 
greatly  increased  their  gifts. 

I  began  to  see  that  there  was  in  the  work — in  the  extent  of 
its  field  and  of  its  objective — an  appeal  to  some  men  of  means 
that  made  possible  larger  individual  gifts  than  I  had  thought 
of  asking  for.  The  Committee's  expenditure  for  this  fiscal 
year  ending  in  July  with  the  Toronto  Convention  was  |14,500. 
Of  this  amount  twenty  per  cent  came  to  the  Committee  in  a 
few  gifts,  including  the  three  just  referred  to.  In  1880,  of 
|24,500  received,  .|7,300,  or  thirty  per  cent,  was  given  by  nine 
donors.  Probably  at  this  early  period  no  one  was  as  deeply 
impressed  with  this  fact,  and  the  meaning  of  it,  as  was  the 
General  Secretary  of  the  Committee. 

Evangelistic  Meetings  of  Moody  and  Sankey,  Neiv  York,  1876 

The  autumn  of  1875  was  signalized  by  the  return  of  Moody 
and  Sankey  from  Great  Britain,  where  they  had  made  an 
evangelistic  tour  which  had  so  commanded  popular  sympathy 
that  there  was  great  eagerness  and  preparation  by  clergy  and 
laity  in  New  York,  Brooklyn,  Philadelphia,  Chicago,  and  other 
cities  to  welcome  them  to  a  similar  work  at  home. 

Moody  and  Sankey  were  in  Brooklyn  in  December,  1875, 
and  in  Philadelphia  during  January,  where,  in  response  to 
Moody's  request,  Cree  acted  as  Executive  Secretary  of  the 


CONFERENCES  AND  CONVENTIONS  155 

Committee  in  charge  of  all  business  details  of  the  campaign. 
The  International  Committee  released  him  from  its  staff  for 
this  work.  For  the  meetings  in  New  York  the  Hippodrome — 
a  building  then  covering  the  block  since  occui)ied  by  the  Madi- 
son Square  Garden — was  secured  and  fitted  up.  With  Mc- 
Burney  and  others  I  served  on  the  Executive  Committee  in 
charge  of  these  meetings. 

One  item  of  preparation  was  the  forming  of  a  class  in 
the  Association,  by  McBurney  and  myself,  the  object  of  which 
was  the  study  of  the  Bible  for  its  use  with  inquirers.  It  was 
formed  during  December  because  of  the  need  of  workers  who 
could  use  the  Bible,  as  Moody  was  then  teaching  its  use  to 
those  who  were  helping  him  in  the  inquiry  room.  It  was  a 
new  method  of  Bible  study  for  Christian  workers,  introduced 
and  advocated  by  him  in  the  pressure  of  his  need  of  friends 
who  could  deal  intelligently  with  those  who  were  awakened 
at  the  preaching  and  song  services,  and  who  desired  to  begin 
the  Christian  life.  During  his  meetings  in  Brooklyn  in  Decem- 
ber, 1875,  I  had  heard  him  explain  most  satisfactorily  this 
use  of  the  Bible  and  was  profoundly  impressed  with  the 
value  of  such  a  study.  Out  of  his  own  wide  experience  he 
classified  the  various  kinds  of  inquirers  and  their  difficulties, 
and  for  each  class  pointed  out  some  passages  of  Scripture 
which  would  shed  light  on  the  solution  or  removal  of  these  difiS- 
culties.  When  he  began  his  work  in  the  Hippodrome  a  group 
of  workers  w^ere  ready  to  cooperate  with  him  in  this  depart- 
ment of  work.  Every  evening  during  these  meetings  I  spent 
in  this  inquiry  room  until  nearly  midnight,  and  gained  qualifi- 
cation for  personal  work  of  this  kind  which  had  not  been  de- 
rived from  previous  study  of  the  Bible.  It  seemed  to  be  a 
practical  method  that  might  be  usefully  introduced  and  per- 
fected in  the  theological  seminary  as  a  fitting  preparation  for 
pastoral  intercourse  in  personal  work.  It  gave  me  new  equip- 
ment for  evangelistic  Association  work. 

Nearly  three  years  after  this  Hippodrome  experience  I  read 
before  the  General  Secretaries'  Conference  (June  5,  1878)  a 
paper  on  *'How  to  Deal  with  Inquirers,"  which  was  afterward 
published  in  the  Watchman.  In  the  opening  paragraph  occurs 
this  testimony :  "Until  three  years  ago,  I  confess  I  was  among 
the  number  who  felt  painfully  ignorant  and  at  a  loss  in  ap- 


156  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

preaching  an  inquirer.  I  rejoiced  to  see  him  manifest  the 
interest  he  did.  It  was  easy  and  pleasant  to  express  this 
joy  to  him.  If  he  seemed  troubled  and  wanted  light,  I  fell 
back  on  my  own  experience;  and  was  surprised  oftentimes, 
that  this  did  not  seem  to  give  him  any  comfort  or  light.  Moody, 
in  his  talk  to  Christians  in  Brooklyn,  about  how  to  deal  with 
inquirers  out  of  the  Bible,  gave  me  more  practical  suggestions 
on  this  subject  than  I  had  received  up  to  that  day  in  December, 
1875.  Since  that  time,  in  dealing  with  scores,  perhaps  hun- 
dreds of  individual  inquirers,  I  have  learned  something  of 
what  is  to  me  now  the  most  delightful  sort  of  Christian  work. 
In  this  paper  I  try  to  give  some  hints  from  this  three  years' 
experience." 

During  the  six  weeks  of  the  Hippodrome  meetings  I  resumed 
with  McBurney  the  intimate  and  constant  intercourse  which 
we  had  enjoyed  during  the  two  years  of  editorial  labor,  when 
I  had  been  more  closely  confined  to  a  residence  in  the  city. 
Together  we  were  members  of  the  Executive  Committee, 
workers  in  the  inquiry  room,  and  occupied  adjoining  rooms  in 
the  tower  of  the  Association  building. 

Friendship  of  D.  L.  Moody 

Another  acquisition  of  these  weeks,  which  was  a  lifelong 
treasure,  was  a  growing  intimacy  with  Moody  and  a  participa- 
tion in  his  work.  On  his  part,  he  came  into  sympathy  with 
what  was  becoming  my  central  purpose — to  aid  in  securing 
for  Association  work  supervisory  and  local  leaders,  both  volun- 
teer and  employed,  who  would  conserve  and  promote  what  was 
best  in  the  message  and  mission  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association.  He  also  was  learning  to  know  better,  and 
value  more  highly,  during  his  own  work  in  Philadelphia  and 
later  in  Chicago,  Thomas  Cree — the  latest  addition  to  our 
force.    With  Weidensall  he  had  long  been  well  acquainted. 

As  we  became  sympathetic  friends  in  this  Hippodrome  work 
he  expressed  his  sympathy  with  what  the  Committee  was 
seeking  to  accomplish,  and  with  me  in  some  of  the  burdens  I 
was  carrying.  A  strong  token  of  this  he  gave  in  the  large 
contribution,  which  for  a  few  years  (187G-1882)  came  to  our 
treasury  from  the  Moody  and  Sankey  hymn  book  fund.  In 
connection  with  the  service  of  song  at  the  immense  meetings 


CONFERENCES  AND  CONVENTIONS  157 

held  in  Great  Britain,  there  had  been  a  large  and  lucrative 
sale  of  the  Moody  and  Sankey  collection  of  hymns.  The 
royalty  coming  to  the  evangelists  was  set  aside  by  them  as 
a  fund,  held  by  three  trustees — George  H.  Stuart,  William  E. 
Dodge,  Jr.,  and  John  V.  Farwell — to  be  devoted  to  promoting 
Christian  work.  Of  this  fund  $30,000  was  promptly  used  to 
erect  a  building  for  tlie  church  in  Chicago  which  Moody  had 
founded,  and  |1,500  was  appropriated  to  the  International 
Committee's  work  for  the  year  1875-6.  It  was  the  largest 
single  contribution  yet  received.  This  was  continued  for 
several  years,  and  one  year  it  was  increased  to  |2,500. 

The  seven  years  from  1876-1882  were  critical  financial  years 
in  the  development  of  the  Committee's  work.  The  period  of 
financial  depression  throughout  the  country  had  begun  in 
1873.  But  it  was  not  till  1878  that  both  Secretary  Cree  and 
myself  felt  constrained  in  the  interests  of  the  work  to  offer 
for  some  years  nearly  twenty  per  cent  of  our  salaries  as  a 
measure  of  relief  to  the  treasury.  It  was  accepted  with  cordial 
thanks  by  the  Committee.  In  the  early  eighties  this  period  of 
severest  strain  ended.^  In  each  of  these,  there  came  to  us  from 
this  fund  a  gift  over  double  that  from  any  other  single  source. 
In  1876  it  was  one  of  three  gifts  yielding  together  one  sixth 
of  the  Committee's  annual  expenditure.  In  1882  it  was  one 
of  twelve  which  yielded  one  third  of  an  expenditure  double 
that  of  1876.  The  expenditures  of  the  International  Com- 
mittee during  the  seven  years  w^ere:  in  1874,  17,543;  in  1875, 
19,505;  in  1876,  |14,503;  in  1877,  |16,457;  in  1878,  |16,875; 
in  1879, 120,347;  in  1880,  |24,566;  in  1886,  |27,658. 

This  aid  from  Moody  was  the  beginning  of  yet  larger  financial 
help  which  he  secured  from  many  friends  some  years  after- 
ward for  our  Student  Department.  His  interest  in  the  whole 
Association  work  was  intimate  and  was  related  to  what  was 
central  and  supreme' in  it. 

Other  Results  of  the  Hippodrome  Meetings 

During  the  six  weeks  of  the  Hippodrome  meetings  the 
churches  and  the  city  had  been  profoundly  stirred.  A  strong 
group  of  leading  clergymen  had  united  in  inviting  the  evan- 

*  "These  five  years  (1873-1878)  are  a  long  dismal  tale  of  declining  markets  .  .  .  con- 
stant bankruptcies,  close  economy,  grinding  frugality  .  .  .  strikes  and  lockouts  .  .  .  depres- 
sion and  despair."     "History  of  United  States"  by  James  F.  Rhodes. 


158  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

gelists,  including  Drs.  William  Adams,  John  Hall,  William  M. 
Taylor,  Henry  C.  Potter,  Robert  MacArthur,  William  Muhlen- 
berg, and  others.  The  management  of  this  city-wide  movement 
was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  laymen.  Clergymen  were  on  the 
platform,  but  the  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Wil- 
liam E.  Dodge,  Senior,  presided  at  all  the  sessions  and  he  and 
his  wife  were  among  the  workers  in  the  inquiry  room.  The 
Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  was  Samuel  Thorne; 
the  treasurer  J.  Pierpont  Morgan;  and  William  E.  Dodge, 
Jr.,  Morris  K.  Jesup,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  John  Crosby 
Brown,  and  other  leading  laymen  served  with  McBurney  on 
this  strong  committee. 

In  connection  with  the  farewell  meeting.  Moody,  following 
his  usual  course,  was  desirous  of  announcing  and  accomplish- 
ing some  large  undertaking,  vitally  related  to  all  the  churches, 
in  which  the  awakened  energies  of  Christian  workers  might 
give  expression,  both  to  gratitude  and  consecration.  Some 
years  later,  when  he  was  expressing  to  me  his  disappointment 
that  his  recent  work  in  some  city  was  not  followed  by  such  an 
expression  on  the  part  of  the  workers,  he  said :  "It  is  not  the 
failure  to  get  the  money  that  troubles  me,  it  is  the  lack  of 
that  spiritual  'fruit  of  his  labor'  which  Paul  was  ever  vigilantly 
looking  for."  Upon  careful  deliberation  it  was  agreed  that 
Moody's  worthy  purpose  could  best  be  carried  out  by  an  effort, 
in  which  all  would  unite,  to  raise  a  fund  of  |200,000  to  in- 
crease the  efficiency  of  the  New  York  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  as  an  agency  of  all  the  churches.  Such  a  valua- 
tion of  the  Association  by  this  group  of  churchmen  of  all  <le- 
nominations  was  a  very  gratifying  acknowledgment  of  the 
good  work  it  was  accomplishing  in  the  city.  It  was  agreed 
that  the  best  use  of  such  a  fund  would  be  to  remove  the 
mortgage  of  $150,000  upon  the  23rd  Street  Association  build- 
ing, then  the  only  one  in  New  York  City,  and  also  to  secure  a 
building  for  the  vigorous  Bowery  Branch,  where  daily  evan- 
gelistic meetings  were  held  as  part  of  a  practical  work  of 
rescue  and  reclamation  for  men  who  were  "down  and  out." 
By  this  use  of  the  fund  ah  initial  subscription  of  |50,000  was 
secured  from  William  E.  Dodge,  Jr.,  for,  as  already  mentioned, 
he  had  placed  in  the  Association  safe  at  the  time  the  building 
was  dedicated,  six  years  before,  a  pledge  of  this  amount  pay- 


CONFERENCES  AND  CONVENTIONS  169 

able  when  the  balance  of  what  was  needed  to  remove  the  whole 
mortgage  was  secured. 

The  effort  to  procure  this  fund  I  recall  with  peculiar  pleas- 
ure, because  it  is  associated  with  my  first  becoming  acquainted 
with  Elbert  B.  Monroe,  who  served  as  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee which  successfully  secured  the  amount  needed.  A 
graduate  of  the  New  York  University,  and  a  man  of  fine  busi- 
ness ability,  he  was  strongly  identified  with  the  work  of  the 
Association,  and  was  soon  to  follow  Messrs.  Dodge  and  Jesup 
in  the  presidency  of  the  New  York  City  Association.  He  was 
also  to  become  member  and  ultimately  chairman  of  the  Inter- 
national Committee. 

Another  activity'  peculiar  to  the  centennial  year  of  1876 
was  the  preparation  of  an  Association  exhibit  for  the  World's 
Exposition  at  Philadelphia.  Space  for  this  was  secured  in 
the  Educational  Department.  Every  Association  was  asked 
to  contribute;  3G  responded  with  pictures  of  their  buildings, 
and  192  sent  packages  of  documents,  cards,  circulars,  manuals, 
etc.,  used  in  their  work.  These  were  carefully  sorted  and 
arranged  in  several  volumes.  From  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion a  large  outline  map  was  obtained,  upon  which  were  dis- 
played the  locations  of  the  Associations  then  in  existence  on 
this  continent.  It  was  a  modest  exhibit — the  first  of  its  kind 
displayed  at  a  World's  Exposition,  and  a  forerunner  of  larger 
ones. 

The  Toronto  Convention  1876 

The  Convention  of  the  centennial  year  met  at  Toronto,  July 
12th,  1876,  under  the  British  flag,  and  both  flags  in  happy 
combination  were  patriotically  displayed  in  Shaftesbury  Hall, 
where  the  sessions  were  held. 

On  this  occasion,  we  welcomed  for  the  only  time  to  a  North 
American  Convention  "the  founder  of  the  parent  London  Asso- 
ciation," George  Williams.  Again  and  again  his  earnest  words 
were  listened  to  with  eager  attention.  His  principal  address 
set  forth  clearly  and  attractively  the  evangelistic  Bible  class 
in  its  best  form,  and  the  qualification  and  method  of  its  leader 
or  "President."  It  was  evident  we  were  listening  to  one  who 
had  for  many  years  conducted  such  a  class,  as  a  principal 
effective  a^encv  in  the  work  of  the  Association.    Of  the  favor- 


160  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

able  impression  which  the  founder  and  ''the  father  of  us  all" 
received  of  some  features  in  the  methods  and  work  of  his 
younger  children  on  this  continent,  he  gave  evidence,  on  his 
return,  in  meetings  of  both  the  World's  Conference  and  the 
British  Associations. 

At  Toronto  the  convention  method  of  appointing  the  com- 
mittee on  permanent  organization  which  nominated  the  presi- 
dent and  other  officers  was  changed.  For  twenty  years  the 
rules  had  provided  that  the  president  of  the  preceding  Con- 
vention, or  his  substitute,  should  appoint  this  committee.  The 
change  to  the  present  method  of  creating  it  by  nominations 
from  the  delegates  representing  each  state  and  province  was 
adopted  by  a  large  majority.  Unfortunately  during  the  dis- 
cussion a  motion  for  the  previous  question  was  moved  pre- 
maturely, before  both  sides  had  had  full  opportunity  to  speak 
and  though  both  Thane  Miller  and  McBurney  had  fairly  secured 
the  floor,  they  were  in  succession  ruled  out  of  order  by  a  mis- 
take of  the  president.  The  next  day,  in  brotherly  fashion 
he  made  hearty  public  apology.  It  was  the  first,  and  so. 
far  as  I  can  recall  the  only  time  when  either  of  these  con- 
vention leaders  failed  of  being  listened  to  by  the  delegates, 
when  they  had  gained  the  floor  and  desired  to  speak.  Naturally 
they  were  both  keenly  disappointed  at  the  time.  The  change 
was  accomplished  in  a  manner  less  deliberate  than  they,  and 
many  others  thought  wise,  but  the  new  rule,  as  they  also 
discerned,  was  sure  to  come,  and  has  proved  satisfactory  in 
its  working,  continuing  in  force  and  favor  ever  since. 

An  appeal  from  southern  delegates  led  by  Major  Joseph 
Hardie,  of  Selma,  for  work  on  behalf  of  colored  young  men 
was  heartily  responded  to,  and  |700  was  raised  on  the  floor 
of  the  Convention,  with  instruction  to  the  Committee  to  com- 
plete the  fund  and  put  a  visiting  Secretary  in  the  field  for  this 
purpose.  In  seconding  Hardie's  appeal.  Dr.  Stuart  Robinson, 
of  Louisville,  offered  the  first  contribution  and  George  Wil- 
liams was  a  donor  of  one  hundred  dollars.  A  recommendation 
to  employ  a  permanent  International  Secretary  for  the  Rail- 
road Work  was  repeated.  To  the  Toronto  Convention  were 
reported  266  more  Associations  than  at  any  previous  meeting, 
and  an  encouraging  increase  in  General  Secretaries,  buildings, 
and  building  funds. 


CHAPTER  IX 
FIVE  YEARS  OF  VARIED  DEVELOPMENT 

Fifth  and  Sixth  Years  of  General  Secretaryship 

1876-78 

Beginning  of  Intercollegiate  Work 

Beginning  with  the  Day  of  Prayer  for  colleges  in  January, 
1876,  a  remarkable  revival  was  experienced  among  the  stu- 
dents at  Princeton  College.  Some  of  the  Christians  among 
them  before  the  Day  of  Prayer  had  been  active  in  personal 
work.  On  that  day  Dr.  William  M.  Taylor  of  New  York 
City  preached  in  the  Chapel,  making  a  very  earnest  appeal 
to  which  remarkable  response  was  given  by  the  students  and 
in  the  days  and  weeks  following  many  made  open  confession 
of  their  faith  by  radical  change  of  life. 

Among  the  student  leaders  was  a  member  of  the  junior 
class,  which  he  had  joined  that  year,  having  begun  his  course 
of  study  at  Hanover  College,  where  he  was  active  in  the 
Student  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  Another  member 
of  this  class,  who  joined  it  at  the  same  time  as  Wishard,  was 
Woodrow  Wilson,  afterward  President  of  the  University,  and 
now  President  of  the  United  States.  As  already  mentioned^ 
Wishard  had  represented  the  Hanover  Association  at  the 
Lowell  Convention  in  1872.  Ever  since  as  a  college  student 
he  had  been  deeply  impressed  with  the  value  and  importance 
to  student  Christian  work  in  college  of  a  connection  with  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  brotherhood.  It  was  the 
evangelistic  spirit  and  work  of  the  brotherhood  and  of  its 
leaders  whom  he  had  met  that  made  most  urgent  appeal  to 
him.  At  Princeton  he  promptly  became  a  member  and  leader 
of  the  Philadelphian  Society  in  which  for  sixty  years  and  for 
many  college  generations  Christian  students  at  Princeton  had 
been  banded  together.     Like  the  diaconate  at  Yale  it  was 

» Pp.  65,  95. 

161 


162  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

anchored  in  the  finer  traditions  of  the  college  and  its  alumni. 
During  the  revival  deputations  of  Princeton  students  visited 
Lafayette,  Yale,  and  other  colleges  in  the  interest  of  a  similar 
work  among  their  students.  Remembering  the  benefits  ex- 
perienced b}'  the  Hanover  students  from  their  connection  with 
the  State  and  International  Association  Work,  Wishard  be- 
came anxious  that  the  Philadelphian  Society  should  become 
a  Student  or  College  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  For 
the  first  term  of  his  senior  year  in  the  autumn  of  1876  he  was 
chosen  President  of  the  Philadelphian  Society.  Later  when 
my  counsel  was  asked  I  suggested  that  the  least  change  called 
for  to  accomplish  what  was  desired  would  be  to  preserve  the 
cherished  name  of  the  Philadelphian  Society,  adding  to  it  the 
words,  "and  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of  Prince- 
ton College";  and  to  modify  the  article  on  active  voting  mem- 
bership which  already  admitted  only  church  members,  by 
inserting  before  the  word  church  the  word  evangelical.  Under 
Wishard's  leadership  these  two  changes  were  ultimately  ac- 
complished. 

In  the  week  following  Sunday,  December  10th,  1876,  re- 
sponding to  a  request  from  William  E.  Dodge,  Jr.,  I  called 
at  his  office.  He  had  been  si^ending  Sunday,  he  said,  with  his 
two  sons,  then  members  of  the  sophomore  class  at  Princeton, 
and  there  he  had  had  an  interview  with  a  student  in  whom 
he  had  become  very  much  interested. 

Of  the  beginning  of  this  historic  interview,  since  com- 
memorated by  a  monument  on  the  Princeton  campus,  the 
following  account  was  given  at  the  International  Convention 
of  1889  by  Cleveland  H.  Dodge,  one  of  the  two  sons  who 
participated  in  it:  "It  was  a  wet,  dark  Sunday  evening  in 
l*rinceton.  Two  college  boys — sophomores — were  in  their 
room  with  their  father,  who  was  visiting  them.  While  they 
were  talking  together,  there  sat  in  a  room  two  floors  below 
them,  a  senior  who  was  very  much  interested  in  the  religious 
life  of  the  college.  His  room  was  cold.  He  had  not  been  well 
the  day  before,  and  had  forgotten  to  get  his  supply  of  coal 
for  over  Sunday.  As  his  fire  got  low  he  said  to  himself,  'I  must 
go  and  borrow  some  coal.'  He  first  thought  of  his  classmates 
in  the  building,  but  going  down  the  entry  to  one  room  after 
another,  he  found  they  were  all  out.     These  sophomores,  two 


FIVE  YEARS  OF  VARIED  DEVELOPMENT  163 

floors  above  his  room  he  did  not  know  very  well,  but  he  had 
seen  them,  and  he  went  up  to  their  door.  Now  that  man  little 
thought,  as  he  knocked  on  that  trivial  errand,  that  the  course 
of  his  life  would  be  changed  by  his  going  into  that  room  that 
afternoon,  with  the  request  so  familiar  to  us  college  boys, 
'Fellows,  I'd  like  to  borrow  some  coal.' " 

This  student — Luther  D.  Wishard — Mr.  Dodge  said,  was 
anxious  as  President  of  their  Philadelphian  Society,  that  this 
student  society  should  become  a  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation. Mr.  Dodge  added  that  in  sympathy  with  this  change 
and  as  a  member  of  the  International  Committee,  it  had 
occurred  to  him  to  suggest  to  his  sons  and  Mr.  Wishard  a 
yet  broader  undertaking.  Why  could  not  college  students, 
he  asked  them,  get  together  and  talk  over  the  religious  work 
they  were  doing  and  might  do,  and  thus  begin  to  create  an 
intercollegiate  Christian  organization,  just  as  college  athletic 
men  get  together  for  intercollegiate  sports  and  contests.  Mr. 
Dodge  added  that  he  had  wanted  to  talk  the  matter  over  with 
me,  and  thought  I  would  be  interested  to  meet  Wishard.  I 
responded  very  heartily,  and  in  full  sympathy  with  what  he 
had  suggested,  giving  him  also  an  account  of  my  own  endeavor 
the  previous  year  to  promote  at  Yale  the  forming  of  an  Asso- 
ciation by  the  class  deacons  and  other  Christian  students. 

This  conversation  was  followed  bj^  further  consultation.  A 
week-end  visit  (January  27th  and  28th,  1877)  was  made  by 
McBurney  and  myself  to  Princeton  in  response  to  an  invita- 
tion from  the  students.  McBurney  spoke  to  them  from  the 
point  of  view  of  a  city  General  Secretary  and  a  personal  Chris- 
tian worker.  Y'ears  before  this  McBurney  had  made  a  deep 
impression  on  Wishard  at  the  International  Convention  of 
1872.  Also  quite  recently  both  McBurney  and  I  had  enjoyed 
a  brief  meeting  with  him  in  our  oflSce  in  New  York,  during 
the  recent  Christmas  holidays.  Now  in  a  third  meeting  this 
student  was  brought  still  more  under  the  spell  of  friendly 
influence  from  Association  workers.  In  following  McBurney 
I  referred,  as  I  had  done  at  Yale,  to  my  experience  as  an 
undergraduate  and  to  the  conviction  that  the  Association 
would  prove  an  advance  upon  preceding  methods  of  voluntary 
Christian  work  by  students.  Also  I  emphasized  Mr.  Dodge's 
suggestion  of  an  intercollegiate  student  movement,  showing 


164  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

that  this  really  meant  a  brotherhood  of  student  societies  as 
part  of  the  world  organization  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association. 

It  was  not  a  large  group  of  students  that  we  addressed  and 
whether  we  had  made  a  favorable  impression  was  for  a  time 
in  doubt,  for,  as  a  discerning  man  has  said,  undergraduate 
students  as  a  class  are  exceedingly  conservative.  College 
tradition  has  a  strong  hold  on  them. 

After  we  left  Princeton,  Wishard  continued  wise  and 
persevering  efforts  to  enlist  his  fellow-students  in  the  inter- 
collegiate effort  suggested  by  Mr.  Dodge.  Early  in  the  year 
1877  a  communication  came  to  me  from  him  containing  an 
offer  from  the  Princeton  students  to  send  to  a  large  number 
of  well  selected  colleges,  a  circular  inviting  each  college — 
whether  an  Association  had  been  formed  in  it  or  not — to  send 
a  representative  to  a  conference  of  college  students  to  be  held 
at  Louisville  in  connection  with  the  meeting  there — June, 
1877 — of  the  next  International  Convention.  At  this  time 
all  delegates  were  entitled  to  free  entertainment.  After  learn- 
ing that  the  Louisville  Association  would  entertain  all  such 
undergraduate  students,  both  regular  delegates  and  others, 
the  Committee  replied  favorably  to  this  proposal  from  the 
new  Princeton  Association.  To  200  colleges  this  invitation 
was  sent  from  Princeton,  and  in  response  25  students  from 
22  colleges  in  11  states  met  in  Louisville. 

Wishard  was  there  to  lead  them.  In  discussions  at  their 
sessions  they  concluded  that  a  larger  meeting  must  be  held 
at  the  next  Convention  in  1879,  and  that  meanwhile  by  corre- 
spondence, by  attendance  at  State  Conventions,  and,  if  pos- 
sible, by  visitation  from  an  International  College  Secretary, 
such  Association  work  among  the  colleges  must  be  promoted 
as  would  result  in  better  work  and  many  conversions.  This 
conclusion  of  their  deliberations  was  reported  by  them  to  the 
Convention,  and  its  Committee  was  authorized,  if  its  resources 
were  sufficient,  to  add  to  its  staff  the  College  Secretary  desired. 

The  College  Secretaryship,  1877-80 

The  first  agent  added  to  the  force  after  the  Louisville  Con- 
vention was,  therefore,  its  first  College  Secretary,  Luther  D. 
Wishard.    Another  interview  with  McBurney  and  myself  had 


FIVE  YEARS  OF  VARIED  DEVELOPMENT  165 

influence  with  him  in  consenting  to  give  to  correspondence 
and  visitation  of  the  colleges  such  time — chiefly  week-ends — 
as  he  could  spare  while  pursuing  his  studies  in  the  theological 
seminary,  first  at  Union  in  New  York  and  then  at  Princeton. 

During  that  college  year — 1877-8 — Wishard  attended  five 
State  Conventions  and  visited  twenty-three  colleges.  By 
correspondence  he  came  into  intercourse  with  as  many  as  one 
hundred  and  fifty  institutions.  At  the  close  of  the  year  he 
was — to  use  his  own  words — "persuaded  that  untold  good 
would  result  from  the  employment  of  a  young  man,  a  student 
who  could  devote  his  entire  time  to  the  work,  making  a  general 
tour  among  all  the  colleges  of  the  country."  Ten  new  College 
Associations  were  added  to  the  list  this  year,  and  two  hundred 
students  had  attended  State  Conventions.  He  had  a  record 
of  some  four  hundred  who  "had  consecrated  their  lives  to  the 
service  of  the  Master."  Of  these  two  hundred  and  thirty 
were  in  College  Associations.  He  adds,  "This  was  the  chief 
thing  which  occupied  our  attention  at  the  Louisville  Conven- 
tion. It  is  the  great  object  for  which  the  work  has  been  under- 
taken." At  the  close  of  his  second  year — July,  1879 — he  was 
still  working  in  connection  with  his  "regular  course  of  study" 
and  "looking  anxiously  toward  the  time  when  some  young 
man  could  enter  upon  an  extended  tour  among  our  colleges 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  this  work."  In  this  year  nine  weeks 
had  been  consumed  by  him  in  college  visitation  and  twenty- 
three  new  Associations  had  been  formed,  making  fifty  in  all. 
During  all  this  time  he  was  diligently  preparing  for  work  on 
the  foreign  mission  field,  having  joined  some  classmates  who 
were  considering  whether  they  should  go  to  China  or  offer  to 
go  together  to  South  America,  with  the  hope  of  forming  a 
presbytery  in  a  new  field.  But,  more  or  less  realized  by  him, 
this  college  work  was  fastening  its  hold  on  his  thought  and 
conscience  and  he  was  beginning  to  see  that  in  developing  it 
he  might  do  more  to  promote  the  foreign  missionary  enterprise 
of  the  Church  than  by  going  out  to  the  field  himself.  For 
soon  after  the  Louisville  Convention  at  the  beginning  of  his 
theological  studies  at  Union,  a  remark  of  Professor  Prentiss 
called  his  attention  for  the  first  time  to  the  origin  of  American 
foreign  missionary  work  at  the  Haystack  prayer  meeting  by 
a  few  Williams  College  students.     He  was  led  to  trace  and 


166  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

recognize  a  genuine  historic  connection  between  that  college 
student  movement  and  the  one  he  was  now  identified  with. 
He  was  led  to  discern  and  believe  that  this  new  movement 
could  be  made  to  promote  the  foreign  missionary  enterprise 
of  the  churches  in  a  way  to  make  it  a  lineal  successor  of  the 
movement  signalized  by  the  Haystack  Monument  at  Williams. 

While  presenting  to  students  the  Association  work,  he  never 
failed  to  emphasize  the  primary  importance  of  the  foreign 
missionary  meeting  and  its  program.  No  one  could  listen 
to  this  part  of  his  address  on  the  six-fold  College  Association 
Work  without  feeling  that  the  missionary  call  had  first  claim 
on  his  own  heart  and  life.  I  vividly  recall  a  consultation  he 
sought  with  me  at  this  critical  period.  He  outlined  the  con- 
siderations and  alternatives  which  have  been  referred  to. 
There  was  no  doubt  in  my  own  mind  that  in  this  intercol- 
legiate undertaking  he  could  accomplish  more  for  the  exten- 
sion of  the  Kingdom  on  the  foreign  mission  field  than  by  going 
out  himself  upon  the  field.  One  obstacle  in  his  path  to  a  free 
choice  was  the  pledge  he  had  given  to  complete  his  theological 
studies  and  become  a  clergyman.  The  pledge  had  been  given 
in  connection  with  some  financial  help  he  had  received  from 
the  Board  of  Education  in  his  church.  He  was  not  able  to 
make  the  repayment — several  hundred  dollars — which  a  choice 
by  him  of  this  student  work  would  make  necessary.  Of  this 
financial  burden  I  had  the  great  privilege  of  relieving  him. 
In  January,  1880,  with  his  desk  in  the  Committee's  office,  he 
began  to  give  his  entire  time  to  the  work  as  its  first  College 
Secretary. 

In  reaching  this  decision  he  sought  and  received  counsel  in 
favor  of  it  from  President  James  McCosh  and  a  group  of  pro- 
fessors in  Princeton  who  met  at  his  request  and  to  whom  he 
asked  me  to  present  the  considerations  which  led  the  Commit- 
tee to  urge  his  continuance  as  its  first  College  Secretary  in  the 
good  work  for  which,  as  we  thought,  he  was  showing  fine  quali- 
fication. It  was  a  pleasure  to  make  the  plea  for  this  continu- 
ance which  the  work  he  had  already  accomplished  abundantly 
justified. 

Already  while  he  was  still  at  Princeton  an  interesting  prob- 
lem was  presented  by  his  first  intercourse  with  students  in 
coeducational  institutions.     In  the  early  years  of  the  Asso- 


FIVE  YEARS  OF  VARIED  DEVELOPMENT  167 

ciatiou  movement,  before  concentration  upon  "work  for  young 
men  exclusively"  began  to  be  our  watchword,  some  Associa- 
tions admitted  members  of  both  sexes,  especially  where  the 
use  of  a  circulating  library  was  one  of  the  membership  priv- 
ileges. This  extension  was  discussed  and  defended  at  some  of 
the  Conventions,  State  and  International. 

In  the  Convention  of  1870  the  Chairman  of  the  International 
Committee,  when  asked  whether  ladies  should  be  admitted  to 
active  membership,  advised  against  it,  but  added :  "Doing  so, 
however,  would  not  preclude  such  Association  from  represen- 
tation in  the  Convention  upon  its  male  membership  only." 
Some  years  after,  when  some  of  us  brought  this  utterance  to 
his  attention,  he  was  as  much  surprised  as  we  had  been  to 
discover  that  he  had  made  the  statement ! 

Among  the  few  isolated  Student  Associations  of  this  early 
period  some  were  in  coeducational  institutions  at  the  West 
and  in  admitting  members  no  distinction  of  sex  was  made. 
To  the  University  of  Michigan  women  did  not  come  until  1870. 
From  that  time  they  were  admitted  as  Association  members. 
In  his  first  intercourse  therefore  with  coeducational  colleges 
Wishard  naturally  accepted  this  precedent  as  his  guide,  before 
he  was  aware  how  contrary  such  a  propaganda  by  him  was  to 
that  emphasis  upon  "work  for  young  men  exclusively"  which 
was  an  essential  part  of  the  Committee's  message  and  pro- 
motion in  all  its  work.  When  taken  to  task  he  frankly  "pled 
guilty  and  made  no  defense,"  for  he  was  as  fully  persuaded  as 
we  were  that  the  students  of  each  sex  in  coeducational  insti- 
tutions could  accomplish  the  objectives  of  Association  work 
more  wisely  and  effectively  by  separate  organizations,  each 
affiliating  with  the  Student  Associations  in  other  than  coed- 
ucational colleges  and  also  with  the  entire  Association  Move- 
ment of  either  young  women  or  young  men. 

Also  as  a  result  of  our  own  experience  we  coveted  for  the 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations,  as  for  our  own,  and 
as  of  primary  importance:  first,  a  strong  supervisory  agency 
with  capable  Secretaries;  second,  local  Secretaries  of  ability; 
and  third,  a  student  movement  which  would  yield  the  Secre- 
taries needed  and  would  be  an  integral  part  of  the  whole  Asso- 
ciation Movement.    In  1875,  as  recorded  later^  in  this  narra- 

»  Pp.  227,  228. 


168  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

tive,  Thane  Miller  had  sought  the  cooperation  of  the  Com- 
mittee's General  Secretary  in  suggesting  to  the  Women's  Asso- 
ciation Convention  at  Pittsburgh — prematurely  as  it  proved 
— a  supervisory  agency  and  secretary.  And  now  the  Com- 
mittee's College  Secretary  seemed  obligated  and  willing  to 
lend  a  hand — if  he  found  he  could  do  so  wisely — in  promot- 
ing the  women's  student  movement  where  it  was  most  nearly 
in  touch  with  our  Student  Associations.  No  sudden  change 
could  be  looked  for  or  thought  of.  Already  women  student 
delegates  were  cordially  welcomed  to  some  of  our  State  Con- 
ventions and  women  officers  were  elected  and  reported  in  our 
Year  Book  by  some  of  our  Student  Associations.  Any  change 
of  practice  must  come  slowly  and  grow  out  of  the  convictions 
and  action  of  the  leaders  of  the  women's  movement.  Natu- 
rally therefore  Wishard  sought  counsel  and  cooperation  from 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thane  Miller.  The  latter  was  a  leader  in  the 
counsels  of  the  Women's  Christian  Associations. 

Their  endeavor  at  that  time  to  bring  together  the  elder 
city  Women's  Associations  and  the  Student  Associations  of 
young  women  did  not  prove  successful.  And  the  existence  of 
two  separated  organizations  within  the  Women's  Association 
Movement  for  the  time  was  not  prevented.  But  the  women 
students  in  coeducational  institutions  became  actively  sym- 
pathetic with  such  changes  in  organization  as  separated  them 
to  a  work  among  themselves.  They  continued  to  be  welcomed 
to  our  State  Conventions,  biding  the  time  when  similar  con- 
ventions of  their  own  should  be  organized. 

Of  one  return  of  Wishard  from  a  trip  during  this  recon- 
struction period  I  retain  a  vivid  recollection.  In  the  home  of 
Chairman  Braiuerd  he  was  reporting  to  us  the  victories  of  this 
tour  when  suddenly  in  changed  tone  he  said  that  at  one  place 
a  union  of  the  two  parties  concerned  could  not  be  prevented. 
When  the  Chairman  desired  to  know  why  he  was  so  confident 
a  separation  in  this  sole  instance  could  not  be  accomplished, 
we  were  told  he  was  referring  to  his  own  engagement  to  be 
married,  which  had  resulted  from  one  of  his  successful  en- 
deavors to  accomplish  a  readjustment.  Upon  such  a  double 
achievement  we  heartily  congratulated  him. 

During  this  period  of  "adjustment"  and  "readjustment,"  as 
it  was  termed,  1  remember  also  attending  with  Wishard  an 


FIVE  YEARS  OF  VARIED  DEVELOPMENT  169 

Ohio  Convention  where  the  men  and  women  students  con- 
stituted the  great  majority  of  the  delegates.  In  the  student 
session  the  question  of  such  a  readjustment  within  coeduca- 
tional colleges  was  being  discussed.  One  of  the  best  speakers 
advocating  such  a  readjustment  was  a  young  woman  from 
Otterbein.  She  was  holding  the  close  attention  of  her  audi- 
ence when  she  uttered  the  sentence :  "It  takes  a  girl  to  win  the 
heart  of  a  girl."  These  words  excited  a  sensation  among  the 
young  men  of  her  audience  which  would  have  disconcerted  an 
ordinary  speaker,  but  this  one  was  only  stimulated  to  con- 
tinue her  address  and  argument  to  a  convincing  conclusion. 
As  she  was  greeted  with  applause  I  said  to  Wishard,  for  we 
were  sitting  together  on  the  platform :  "That  is  a  leader  who 
can  give  invaluable  help  in  the  work  of  readjustment  within 
the  colleges  on  your  field."  Miss  Fannie  Beal  proved  an  able 
worker.  In  due  time  sufficient  leadership  by  the  young  women 
themselves  accomplished  the  desired  work  of  "readjustment" 
and  the  societies  thus  readjusted  formed  state  and  interna- 
tional organizations,  with  employed  officers  of  their  own. 
Ultimately  the  goal  of  union  within  the  entire  Women's  Asso- 
ciation Movement  was  reached  under  the  remarkable  and 
devoted  leadership  of  Miss  Grace  Dodge.^ 

International  Conventions  Become  Biennial 

To  the  Louisville  Convention  (1877)  its  Committee  reported 
an  annual  expenditure  fifteen  per  cent  larger  than  heretofore. 
What  was  offered  at  the  Convention  was  more  than  ever  in- 
sufficient for  this  enlarged  work.  Further  addition  to  the 
Committee's  staff  was  urgently  authorized.  To  this  Conven- 
tion had  come,  however,  a  smaller  number  of  delegates,  from 
a  smaller  number  of  Associations  than  had  been  present  at 
recent  meetings. 

The  meaning  of  the  situation  was  very  clear  to  the  Com- 
mittee and  the  older  delegates.  To  them  four  facts  were  evi- 
dent: this  beginning  of  Supervisory  Work  must  be  developed; 
if  both  State  and  International  Conventions  continued  to  be 
annual,  both  could  not  be  largely  attended  by  the  Associa- 
tion men  who  felt  willing  to  attend  such  meetings;  most  of 
the  donors  who  were  giving,  and  who  could  be  induced  to  give 

'Pp.  231,459-61. 


170  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

to  the  International  Work  could  not,  or  would  not  attend  the 
Conventions;  these  donors  could  be  reached  by  parlor  confer- 
ences, as  already  demonstrated  by  the  five  conferences  held 
since  the  first  met  in  1874  at  Harrisburg,  Therefore,  if  the 
Conventions  became  biennial,  the  Committee  would  be  able  to 
hold  the  needed  conferences,  its  work  would  be  enlarged,  and 
delegates  would  be  released  for  attendance  in  greater  numbers 
upon  State  Conventions. 

But  to  every  delegate  who  had  come  to  this  as  his  first  Con- 
vention, the  annual  meeting  seemed  indispensable.  As  the 
discussion  proceeded,  it  was  clear  that  the  majority  would  not 
favor  a  change  unless  a  plea  could  be  made,  so  strong  and  con- 
vincing as  to  change  votes.  Such  a  plea  McBurney  made.  He 
presented  the  situation  so  convincingly  that  as  the  voters 
afterwards  testified,  enough  votes  were  changed  to  favor  the 
holding  of  the  next  Convention  in  the  year  1879.  This  gave  to 
the  State  organizations  and  the  International  Committee  op- 
portunities to  demonstrate  the  wisdom  of  the  course  taken,  for 
no  motion  for  a  change  in  the  interval  between  Conventions 
was  made  until  twenty-five  years  later,  and  then  a  triennial 
interval  was  proposed  and  agreed  to  without  debate! 

On  the  basis  of  this  change,  and  in  expectation  of  greater 
resources  for  the  Committee,  the  Convention  authorized  a 
budget  of  $20,000,  calling  for  an  increase  of  fifteen  per  cent. 
This  steady  growth  of  the  work  brought  with  it  increasing 
responsibility  in  connection  with  the  program  and  procedure 
of  the  committee  meetings  and  the  parlor  conferences. 

The  State  Conventions 

In  the  autumn  of  1877,  at  the  New  York  State  Convention, 
McBurney  read  a  paper  on  "Our  State  Work."  This  work  in 
New  York,  with  its  counterpart  in  Pennsylvania,  he  defined 
as  "primarily  a  mission  to  young  men  and  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tion  Associations,  resulting  in  their  increase  in  numbers  and 
efficiency."  The  work  in  the  four  other  states  with  State 
Secretaries  was  defined  as  "a  mission  to  churches  and  com- 
munities generally,"  which  in  the  experience  of  the  past  six 
years  had  not  established  and  fostered  vigorous  Associations. 
As  his  theme  related  exclusively  to  State  Work,  no  mention 
was  made  of  the  fact  that  during  this  period,  and  before  it. 


FIVE  YEARS  OF  VARIED  DEVELOPMENT  171 

the  entire  staff  of  the  Internatioual  Committee  and  its  mem- 
bers, had  been  employed  upon  the  work  correctly  defined  as  a 
"mission  to  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations."  This 
paper,  with  its  truthful  comparison  of  the  two  methods  of 
State  Work,  as  these  had  been  tested  for  years  in  the  crucible 
of  experiment  and  experience,  was  wisely  published  by  a  state 
convention  and  its  committee.  It  was  also  widely  circulated 
from  the  International  oflBce.  It  produced  a  profound  impres- 
sion upon  friends  who  were  identified  with  State  Work  of  the 
general  evangelistic  sort,  owing  to  their  sincere  desire  and 
purpose  that  their  work  should  promote  vigorous  Associations. 

In  his  life  of  McBurnej',  Dr.  Doggett  says :  "The  paper  read 
by  McBurne}"  in  New  York  was  carefully  read  by  the  leaders 
in  New  England,  and  in  1879  at  a  conference  held  in  Provi- 
dence, to  which  McBurney  as  well  as  Mr.  Morse  were  invited, 
a  State  Secretary  was  called  by  the  Massachusetts  and  Rhode 
Island  State  Committee,  with  instructions  to  devote  himself 
chiefly  to  Association  work."  ^  This  Secretary,  suggested  by 
us  in  response  to  their  request,  was  Samuel  M.  Sayford.  He 
was  then  the  acceptable  Secretary  of  the  Syracuse  (New" 
York)  Association. 

Promptly  in  January,  1880,  Sayford  began  his  work  as  State 
Secretary^  "under  instructions  from  the  Massachusetts  Com- 
mittee to  devote  the  greater  part  of  his  time  to  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  work."  With  the  cooperation  of  Inter- 
national Secretary  Cree,  General  Secretaries  began  to  be  se- 
cured in  the  cities  of  the  state.  Sayford's  sympathies  and 
qualifications,  however,  were  leading  him  into  that  life  work 
as  an  evangelist  in  which  he  has  been  greatly  blessed.  Becom- 
ing aware  of  this  preference  on  his  part,  I  was  glad  of  the  p 
opportunity  to  commend  to  him  as  an  associate,  Charles  K. 
Ober,  who,  after  graduating  at  Williams  College,  had  served  on 
apprenticeship  under  McBurney  in  the  New  York  Association. 
Early  in  1882  Ober  accepted  the  call  of  the  Massachusetts 
Committee^  "to  devote  himself  as  Sayford's  associate  to  dis- 
tinctive Association  work."  Upon  Sayford's  resignation,  Ober 
became  State  Secretary  and  under  him  and  his  successors  the 


*  "Life  of  Robert  R.  McBurney,"  p.  200. 
*Year  Book  1880-1,  p.  43. 

•  Year  Book  1883^,  p.  Ixv. 


172  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

local  Associations  were  steadily  strengthened  by  securing  both 
General  Secretaries  and  buildings.  These  changes  of  stafif 
were  all  harmoniously  accomplished  by  the  Massachusetts 
Committee  under  the  continued  leadership  of  R,  K.  Remington 
and  Henry  M.  Moore,  both  of  whom  also  became  strong  mem- 
bers of  the  International  Committee. 

In  the  Massachusetts  State  office,  Charles  K.  Ober  began 
his  career  of  remarkable  service  as  an  officer  of  Association 
supervision.  Soon  (1884)  he  became  an  International  Secre- 
tary, beginning  on  the  student  staff  and  later  rendering  inval- 
uable service  to  state  and  local  work,  as  will  duly  appear  in 
this  narrative.'^ 

The  example  of  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  was  fol- 
lowed in  other  states.  The  International  Secretaries  heartily 
cooperated  in  facilitating  this  change.  In  1879,  twelve  State 
and  Provincial  Committees  were  chiefly  occupied  with  distinc- 
tive work  for  young  men,  and  four  years  later,  of  thirteen  such 
Secretaries,  in  as  many  states,  all  but  one  or  two  were  concen- 
trating on  this  distinctive  work.  Not  only  was  the  objective 
of  these  committees  the  same,  but  they  also  came  to  a  harmo- 
nious agreement  and  cooperation  as  to  the  methods  to  be  pur- 
sued in  the  work. 

Seventh  and  Eighth  Years  op  the  General  Secretaryship 

1878-80 

World's  Conference  of  1878  at  Geneva,  Switzerland 

From  the  European  point  of  view  there  was  promise  of  an 
unusual  attendance  at  the  World's  Conference  of  1878.  The 
attractive  city  of  Geneva,  Switzerland,  where  it  was  to  be  held, 
and  the  convenient  vacation  month  of  August,  chosen  as  the 
time  for  the  meeting,  contributed  to  increase  attendance. 
Special  effort  was  made  by  the  friends  in  Geneva  to  promote 
the  coming  of  delegates.  Since  the  first  Conference  of  1855  no 
additional  countries  had  sent  delegates  regularl3^  This  year 
from  eight  additional  countries  regular  delegates  began  to 
come.  Among  our  own  Association  workers  increasing  inter- 
est was  taken  in  the  work  abroad,  especially  in  Great  Britain. 
Since  the  Hamburg  Conference  of  1875,  George  Williams  had 

7  Pp.  2G2-3,  289-91,  332,  345-63,  366,  369,  372-3,  405-6,  507. 


FIVE  YEARS  OF  VARIED  DEVELOPMENT  173 

beeu  welcomed  at  the  luternational  Conventiou,  and  the  virile 
message  couceruiug  Bible  study  and  Bible  work  which  both 
he  and  his  predecessor,  W.  Hind  Smith,  had  brought  to  the 
Conventions  and  Secretaries'  Conferences,  had  made  a  deep 
impression,  and  the  report  I  had  beeu  able  to  bring  of  the  two 
preceding  Conferences  had  been  listened  to  with  interest. 

The  recent  establishment  of  the  Tourist  Agency  of  Thomas 
Cook  &  Sou  had  facilitated  overseas  travel.  Early  in  the  year 
1878,  the  Secretarj'  of  the  Brooklyn  Association,  Humphrey 
B.  Chamberliu,  who  was  also  Secretary-Treasurer  of  the  Gen- 
eral Secretaries'  Conference,  consulted  me  about  making  up  a 
tourist  party  of  delegates,  to  be  composed  chiefly  of  Secre- 
taries. He  offered  to  undertake  the  necessary  correspondence 
and  other  details,  if  I  would  consent  to  be  a  member  of  the 
party.  Forty-one  delegates  were  secured,  nearly  equaling  in 
number  the  British  delegation. 

The  voj'age  across  the  Atlantic  was  in  striking  contrast  to 
that  of  1875,  when  I  was  a  solitary  delegate.  On  the  steamer 
Ethiopia  we  were  a  party  that  seemed  to  be  off  for  an  unusual 
holiday.  The  messages  we  were  carrying  had  been  written, 
translated,  and  printed  in  pamphlet  form  and  gave  us  no 
anxious  thought.  Most  of  the  company  were  enjoj'iug  their 
first  visit  to  Europe.  My  own  interest  in  this  journey  was 
greatly  increased  by  the  company  of  several  members  of  my 
own  family,  including  my  sister.  Miss  Kebecca  Morse,  after- 
ward a  leader  among  the  workers  in  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association.  We  had  in  our  care  a  niece  and  two 
nephews.  These  nephews  are  now  (1917)  well  known  as 
veteran  members  of  the  firm  of  Colgate  &  Company — Gilbert 
and  Sidney  Colgate,  then  boj^s  on  their  first  trip  abroad. 

This  was  a  rare  opportunity  for  the  Secretaries  to  enjoy  one 
another's  society  in  the  happy  leisure  of  travel  and  wholesome 
recreation.  There  is  a  peculiar  pleasure  in  traveling  abroad 
with  friends  who  are  enjoying  their  first  trip,  and  it  is  a  pleas- 
ure I  have  enjoyed  during  many  Atlantic  crossings,  and  along 
numerous  pathways  of  travel  in  Europe  and  on  other  conti- 
nents. We  were  favored  with  good  weather.  The  games  aad 
sports  on  deck  grew  more  and  more  exciting. 

After  a  tour  in  northern  Ireland  and  Scotland,  we  reached 
London,  where  we  were  cordially  welcomed  by  George  Wil- 


174  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

liams,  Edwyn  Shipton,  and  other  friends,  and  reached  Geneva 
by  way  of  Holland  and  the  Rhine.  The  subject  of  the  Amer- 
ican paper,  translated  for  the  Conference,  was  "Bible  Study 
and  Bible  Classes  in  the  American  Associations."  It  was 
written  by  one  of  the  delegates,  Robert  A.  Orr,  of  Pittsburgh, 
highly  esteemed  among  us  as  the  Secretary  who  was  giving 
most  time — and  most  effectively — to  Bible  teaching.  An  his- 
torical sketch  which  I  had  prepared  of  the  North  American 
Associations,  with  special  emphasis  upon  the  progress  made 
since  the  last  World's  Conference,  was  also  distributed.  Not 
only  the  American  delegates,  but  also  those  from  Great 
Britain,  France,  and  Switzerland  brought  their  papers  and 
reports  translated  and  printed  in  the  languages  of  the  Con- 
ference. The  religious  press  of  the  continent,  in  making  men- 
tion of  the  forty  American  delegates,  emphasized  the  fact  that 
"none  of  them  drank  wine  with  their  meals." 

At  the  request  of  the  Geneva  Association,  in  its  preparation 
for  the  conference  program,  the  French  delegates  brought  a 
paper  entitled  Liens  Internationales  or  "International  Ties." 
In  it  was  proposed  and  discussed  the  appointment  by  the 
Conference,  of  an  Executive  Committee  to  act  for  it  between 
Conferences — an  agency  similar  to  the  North  American  Inter- 
national Committee.  The  Conference  was  fortunate  in  its 
presiding  officer,  who  was  also  chairman  of  the  Committee  of 
Arrangements — Charles  Fermaud — a  young  business  man  of 
Geneva.  He  welcomed  the  delegates  in  the  three  languages 
of  the  Conference  and  at  his  suggestion  on  behalf  of  the 
Geneva  Committee,  as  a  new  departure,  a  bureau  composed  of 
members  from  eight  of  the  countries  represented  was  chosen 
as  a  business  committee  in  charge  of  the  proceedings.  This 
paper  of  the  French  delegates  was  presented  at  the  morning 
session  of  the  second  day,  and  aroused  a  vigorous  discussion. 
Shipton  opposed  such  an  appointment,  believing  it  would 
introduce  an  agency  exercising  an  authority  heretofore  ex- 
plicitly disclaimed  by  the  Conference.  The  advocates  of  the 
change  did  not  favor  an  agency  with  authority,  and  I  was 
called  upon  to  explain  how  our  own  Executive  Committee 
accomplished  a  desirable  work  without  the  exercise  of  any 
authority  or  control  over  the  local  Associations.  A  decision 
was  postponed  until  the  following  day. 


FIVE  YEARS  OF  VARIED  DEVELOPMENT  175 

In  the  afternoon  and  evening  the  Conference  was  enter- 
tained at  the  country  seat  of  a  friend,  and  a  severe  storm  kept 
us  all  within  doors.  In  two  separate  rooms,  and  quite  unknown 
to  each  other,  two  groups  of  delegates  sought  out  McBurney 
and  me  to  inquire  about  the  International  Work,  which  had 
been  referred  to  in  the  morning's  discussion.  By  means  of 
interpreters  any  erroneous  impression  which  had  been  made 
was  corrected,  and  a  statement  was  framed,  by  each  group 
of  delegates,  in  the  form  of  resolutions  providing  for  the  elec- 
tion of  such  an  Executive  Committee  as  we  had  described  to 
them.  Late  that  evening  each  set  of  resolutions  was  translated 
into  French  and  German  and  then  printed.  In  the  morning 
the  two  sets  of  resolutions  were  found  to  be  substantially  the 
same! 

The  following  day,  when  the  discussion  was  resumed,  there 
was  still  a  division  of  opinion.  Shipton  was  unconvinced. 
But  George  Williams  spoke  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  new  plan. 
His  visit  to  America  and  his  observation  of  the  work  had  con- 
vinced him  of  the  wisdom  of  the  change  proposed.  The  great 
majority  of  the  British  delegation,  including  Hind  Smith, 
were  of  the  same  opinion.  The  resolutions  were  carried  with 
very  few  dissenting  votes.  The  attitude  of  the  German  dele- 
gates was  neutral,  but  the  French,  Swiss,  Scandinavian,  North 
American,  and  other  delegates  favored  the  change. 

Toward  the  expenses  of  this  new  Committee,  George 
Williams  and  a  Scotch  delegate  offered  each  two  hundred  and 
fifty  francs  (|50),  and  McBurney,  for  the  American  delegates, 
pledged  one  thousand  francs  (|200).  This  Bureau  of  the 
Conference  represented  eight  nations.  It  had  been  nominated 
by  the  delegates  from  each  country,  and  contained  enough 
members  from  Geneva  and  its  neighborhood  to  constitute  a 
working  quorum.  Geneva  seemed  to  be  the  city  from  which, 
better  than  from  any  other  in  Europe,  such  a  work  could  be 
most  happily  conducted.  It  was  therefore  chosen  as  headquar- 
ters, and  the  members  of  the  Conference  Bureau  were  elected 
to  constitute  the  new  Central  International  Committee,  which 
later  became  known  as  the  World's  Committee. 

The  members  were  Charles  Fermaud,  Chairman;  Henri 
Cuchet,  Paul  Piquet,  and  Frederic  Bouna  of  Geneva;  Robert 
Matthey,  Lausanne;  Alfred  de  Rougemont,  Neufchatel;  Her- 


176  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

man  Eidenbenz,  Zurich ;  W.  Edwyn  Shipton,  Great  Britain ; 
Christian  King,  Germany;  Francisco  Albricias,  Spain;  W. 
Van  Oosterwijk  Bruijn,  Holland;  F.  Schultess,  Upsala, 
Sweden ;  Luc  Dorian,  Paris ;  and  Richard  C.  Morse,  North 
America.  Without  a  General  Secretary,  we  felt  sure  that  the 
new  Committee  would  find  it  impossible  to  meet  the  expecta- 
tions which  had  been  created  in  connection  with  its  appoint- 
ment, and  George  Williams  joined  us  heartily  in  this  convic- 
tion. The  President  of  the  Conference,  Charles  Fermaud, 
seemed  to  the  American  delegates,  and  many  others,  a  man 
of  promise  and  qualification  for  this  important  office.  We 
were  told  that  he  was,  at  that  time,  the  only  total  abstainer 
of  his  age  in  Geneva.  The  men  in  Geneva  who  had  known 
him  for  years,  confirmed  us  in  the  favorable  opinion  which 
we  had  formed.  This  led  Messrs.  Williams,  McBurney,  and 
myself  to  have  interviews  both  with  Fermaud  and  with  mem- 
bers of  the  Committee.  The  result  was  a  promise  from  him 
to  give  careful  and  prayerful  consideration  to  the  proposal 
we  were  making.  On  our  part,  and  on  behalf  of  the  American 
Secretaries,  we  invited  him,  in  case  he  accepted  the  call  of  the 
Committee,  to  attend  as  our  guest  the  Convention  and  Secre- 
taries' Conference  of  the  following  summer  (1879),  and  also  to 
visit  some  of  the  principal  American  and  Canadian  Associa- 
tions, 

This  invitation  to  the  new  office  made  it  necessary  to  pro- 
vide a  fund  for  the  salary  needed.  Toward  such  a  fund  George 
Williams  offered  |500  and  on  behalf  of  the  American  dele- 
gates an  equal  sum  was  pledged.  Before  the  close  of  the  year 
Fermaud  accepted  the  call  of  the  Committee,  and  began  his 
work  as  General  Secretary  the  following  January  (1879). 
He  also  accepted  our  invitation  and  attended  in  Baltimore 
both  the  Convention  and  the  Secretaries'  Conference,  visiting 
also  the  Associations  in  more  than  a  dozen  of  our  principal 
cities,  and  studying  their  work.  Before  liis  return,  in  a  long 
interview,  we  talked  over  the  work  of  the  World's  Committee. 
When  I  asked  what  features  of  the  work  which  he  had  been 
studying  impressed  him  as  of  first  importance,  he  replied: 
(1)  The  local  General  Secretaryship.  (2)  The  agencies  of 
supervision — the  International  and  State  Committees,  with 
their  Secretaries.     (3)  The  Association  buildings,  as  essential 


FIVE  YEARS  OF  VARIED  DEVELOPMENT  177 

to  provide  the  equipmeut  needed  for  the  fourfold  work  in  its 
best  form.  To  promote  in  Europe  the  reproduction  of  these 
features  of  Association  work,  he  felt  was  the  objective  of  the 
World's  Committee. 

As  a  result  of  this  new  departure  of  the  World's  Conference, 
I  became  responsible  each  year  to  its  Committee  for  the  grow- 
ing fund  expected  from  North  America  for  the  expenses  of  its 
work. 

The  Convention  of  1879  at  Baltimore 

Baltimore  was  chosen  as  the  place  of  meeting  for  the  Con- 
vention of  1871),  without  any  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  Moody 
was  to  precede  us  for  a  winter  and  spring  of  evangelistic  work 
in  that  city.  For  the  first  time  an  entire  season  of  fruitful 
work  was  carried  on  by  him  in  one  city  and  also  for  the  first 
time,  not  in  one  large  central  building,  but  month  by  month 
in  different  churches  and  sections  of  that  city. 

During  the  three  seasons  since  his  return  from  Great  Bri- 
tain in  the  autumn  of  1875,  he  had  held  evangelistic  services 
in  more  than  three  cities,  bringing  a  blessing  to  the  Associa- 
tions, as  well  as  to  the  churches.  His  stay  for  the  whole  of 
this  fourth  season  in  Baltimore  had  satisfied  him,  so  he  told 
me,  that  this  continuance  in  one  city  for  a  whole  winter  and 
spring  was  a  program  yielding  the  best  results  he  had  yet 
realized  in  his  experience  as  an  evangelist.  He  used  even 
stronger  language  than  this,  saying:  "When  I  think  of  it,  I 
wonder  how  I  could  have  been  such  a  fool  as  to  attempt,  as 
I  did,  in  a  single  season  (the  season  of  1875-76)  three  cam- 
paigns in  three  such  cities  as  Brooklyn,  Philadelphia,  and 
New  York !" 

This  was  not  the  only  time  wheli  he  made  me  feel  that 
as  an  evangelist  he  had  never  fully  achieved  his  cherished 
purpose  to  create  and  leave  in  each  city  in  which  he  labored 
such  an  inspirational  force  of  permanent  workers  as  would 
perpetuate,  more  strongly  than  he  ever  saw  perpetuated, 
the  influences  for  good  which  had  been  set  in  motion,  under 
his  touch,  within  Church,  Association,  and  community.  He; 
looked  to  the  Association  in  each  place  as  an  agency  that 
might  do  more  in  this  direction  than  it  ever  accomplished. 
More  than  once  he  said  to  me:  ''Of  all  the  cities  I  have  even 


178  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

worked  in,  I  am  best  jjleased  with  the  work  that  followed  in 
Glasgow,  Scotland,  and  in  Baltimore." 

To  the  end  of  his  life  as  a  faithful  evangelist  he  continued 
on  the  platform  and  in  the  inquiry  room  a  work  which,  as  here- 
tofore, continued  to  prove  fruitful  in  blessing  to  a  growing 
multitude  in  many  cities.  But  in  his  later  years  at  Northfield 
and  Mount  Hermon  he  also  established  for  the  youth  of  both 
sexes  another  form  of  evangelism  which  continues  to  live  after 
him,  an  abiding,  educational  agency  full  of  blessing  from 
generation  to  generation  upon  a  growing  multitude  of  the 
youth  of  his  own  country  and  from  many  other  lands. 

He  was  in  Baltimore  when  the  Secretaries  came  for  their 
annual  conference,  the  week  before  the  Convention.  His 
youngest  child  was  born  that  winter,  and  when  McBurney, 
Cree,  and  I  called  on  the  father,  to  ask  for  his  presence  and 
help  in  the  conference,  he  ran  upstairs  and  brought  the  baby 
down  to  show  him  to  us.  He  had  not  reckoned  suflSciently 
with  the  fact  that  we  were  three  old  bachelors,  somewhat  timid 
and  awkward  with  a  tiny  baby!  When  he  came  to  us  with 
the  child  in  his  arms,  something  in  our  awkward  manner  of 
greeting  the  young  stranger  reminded  him  of  the  fact,  and 
with  a  quick  glance  around  the  half  circle  of  admiring  faces, 
he  said :  "Oh,  I  forgot  that  you  old  bachelors  don't  appreciate 
babies!"  and  then  disappeared  with  the  child,  more  quickly 
than  he  had  brought  him  to  us. 

He  heartily  consented  to  meet  and  address  the  Secretaries. 
Often  afterward  his  words  were  quoted  in  the  brotherhood : 
"Six  years  ago  I  became  satisfied  that  as  an  evangelist,  my 
field  of  service  was  not  that  of  an  Association  Secretary. 
There  are  many  ways  of  reaching  young  men.  You  do  not 
want  simply  evangelistic  meetings.  I  tried  that  method  and 
failed,  so  I  gave  it  up  and  became  an  evangelist.  You  cannot 
do  both  and  succeed." 

The  question  was  asked — "What  do  you  consider  the  great- 
est need  of  the  Associations  now?"  As  he  looked  into  the 
faces  of  the  seventy-five  Secretaries  before  him,  most  of  whom 
felt  indebted  to  him  for  gracious  inspiration  in  their  life  work, 
he  replied:  "More  trained  Secretaries,  and  more  Training 
Schools,  such  as  this  conference.  Every  Secretary  ought  to  be 
training  suitable  young  men  for  this  work." 


FIVE  YEARS  OF  VARIED  DEVELOPMENT  179 

The  delegates  were  in  no  doubt  as  to  their  choice  for  Presi- 
dent of  the  Convention.  Moody  was  unaninionslj'  elected  and 
presided  in  a  manner  that  made  the  Convention  preeminent 
for  its  spiritual  power,  and  for  the  inspirational  influence 
exerted  upon  the  delegates.  On  Sunday  afternoon  a  consecra- 
tion meeting  for  all  the  workers  was  called  and  led  by  the 
President.  One  delegate,  a  devout  and  earnest  pastor  of  a 
Bohemian  Church  in  New  York,  was  so  impressed  that  he 
called  on  me  after  our  return  to  the  city  and  asked  that  testi- 
monies should  be  collected  from  those  who  had  received  benefit 
corresponding  to  what  he  had  received.  This  request,  over  his 
name  and  describing  his  own  experience,  was  sent  to  those 
who  attended  the  Convention,  and  a  large  number  responded. 
These  testimonies  were  prepared  for  publication  and  many 
copies  were  distributed. 

The  Baltimore  Convention  was  the  first  to  receive  a  biennial 
report  from  its  Committee.  The  longer  interval  of  two  years 
between  Conventions  had  been  used  in  a  manner  that  fully 
justified  the  making  of  this  change.  The  State  Conventions 
had  received  more  help  than  ever  from  the  International  staff, 
and  over  two  thousand  delegates  from  nearly  five  hundred 
Associations  had  increased  the  influence  of  these  numerous 
state  meetings.  Fourteen  parlor  conferences  had  been  held 
by  the  Committee  and  the  expenditures  of  the  two  years — 
larger  by  ten  per  cent  than  heretofore — had  been  fully,  met,  by 
a  constituency  of  donors  intelligent  about  the  International 
movement,  and  giving  promise  of  being  stable  supporters  of 
a  work,  the  continued  increase  of  which  in  size  and  expense 
was  heartily  authorized  by  the  Convention. 

Interval  Beticeen  Conventions  of  1879  and  1881 

During  the  two  years  until  the  Convention  of  1881,  seven 
more  parlor  conferences  were  held — one  each  in  Milwaukee, 
St.  Paul,  Minneapolis,  Cincinnati,  Toronto,  and  two  in  Chicago 
— all  extending  the  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  Committee's 
expanding  work.  As  many  as  forty-eight  General  Secretaries 
were  found  and  recommended  to  as  many  Associations,  in 
response  to  requests  for  these  needed  leaders  in  local  work. 

In  1879,  while  Moody  was  conducting  his  work  in  Baltimore, 
Morris  K.  Jesup,  a  member  of  the  Committee,  was  visiting 


180  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

San  Francisco.  He  had  been  active  in  the  Hippodrome  work 
of  1876  when  Moody  was  his  guest.  He  felt  sure  that  a  similar 
work  in  San  Francisco  was  urgently  called  for.  The  depressed 
condition  of  the  Association  in  that  city  also  appealed  to  him, 
for  a  mortgage  of  |80,000  on  its  building  had  been  unwisely 
incurred^  and  prevented  the  use  of  the  building  by  the  Asso- 
ciation for  its  work,  A  thorough  reorganization,  with  a  com- 
petent Secretary,  was  called  for,  and  such  a  change  Mr.  Jesup 
believed  would  be  one  of  the  good  results  of  a  work  by  Moody. 
In  response  to  an  invitation  from  the  Christian  churches  and 
the  Association  of  San  Francisco  he  spent  the  winter  of  1880 
in  that  city,  reorganized  the  Association,  and  enlisted  Chris- 
tian men  of  influence  on  its  Board  of  Management.  In  their 
name  he  asked  the  International  Committee  to  recommend  a 
competent  Secretary  for  the  Association,  toward  the  establish- 
ment of  a  virile  Association  work  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 

Henry  J.  McCoy,  the  Secretary  in  Lowell,  Massachusetts, 
had  become  well  known  in  the  International  office  during  his 
six  years  of  growing  efficiency  in  the  work  in  that  city.  He 
was  asked  to  give  candid  and  thorough  consideration  to  this 
call  to  a  difficult  field  to  which,  in  the  judgment  of  those  who 
knew  him  best,  he  was  fully  equal.  He  came  to  New  York 
and  our  conference  and  consultation  with  him  took  place  in 
McBurney's  office,  where  Messrs.  Moody,  Jesup,  Dodge,  and 
McBurney  took  part  in  presenting  the  urgency  and  promise 
of  the  opportunity  presented  at  San  Francisco  and  on  the 
Pacific  Coast.  McCoy  agreed  to  go,  provided  that  the  mort- 
gage could  be  lifted  from  the  building,  and  that  the  way  was 
really  open  to  the  work  we  had  described  to  him.  Moody  said 
it  would  be  necessary  for  an  International  Secretary — Cree 
if  possible — to  come  to  San  Francisco  and  complete  the  can- 
vass which  had  been  well  begun,  for  the  full  amount  needed 
to  lift  the  debt  and  put  the  building  in  good  condition.  Of  this 
sum  110,000  was  allotted  to  New  York.  This  sum  McBurney 
and  I  were  able  to  secure  and  Cree  went  to  San  Francisco. 
His  absence  on  this  serious  errand  prevented  his  attendance 
at  the  Cleveland  Convention  (May  25-29,  1881)  to  join  his 
associates  in  reporting  his  arduous  work  for  the  past  two  years. 
As  his  substitute,  McBurney  described  to  the  Convention  the 
manner  of  man  Cree  was  in  the  following  language : 


FIVE  YEARS  OP  VARIED  DEVELOPMENT  181 

"Mr.  Cree  is  rightly  named  'Traveling  Secretary,'  for  tonight 
he  is  with  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of  San 
Francisco,  acting  temporarily  as  their  Secretary  until  Henry 
McCoy  arrives  to  take  that  position.  Mr.  Cree,  for  whom  I 
am  to  speak  tonight,  has  peculiar  adaptation  for  the  work  with 
which  just  now  he  is  charged.  The  president  of  a  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  recently  said  that,  after  having 
been  twenty-four  hours  in  his  city  (and  the  Association  had 
existed  there  for  over  twenty  years)  Mr.  Cree  knew  more  about 
the  Association  than  any  member  of  it.  It  was  not  in  a  good 
condition.  The  ministers  had  not  very  much  confidence  in  it. 
It  had  been  engaging  in  a  class  of  work  not  directly  reaching 
young  men,  and  the  support  of  the  Church  and  of  the  Chris- 
tian people  was  being  withheld.  Mr.  Cree  went  through  the 
records  of  the  Association,  called  upon  every  donor  who  had 
helped  the  As.sociation,  and  to  each  explained  its  work,  'But,' 
they  said,  'that  work  has  not  been  done  here.'  'Very  true,' 
they  were  told,  'but  you  could  have  done  it  by  sustaining  a 
General  Secretary  who  would  have  organized  aggressive  work 
for  young  men.'  'We  admit  it,'  they  replied.  The  result  was 
that  a  parlor  conference  was  held  through  Mr.  Cree's  agency, 
money  enough  was  secured  to  pay  the  debt,  the  interest  of 
old  friends  was  reawakened,  a  competent  Secretary  was  placed 
in  charge,  and  young  men  are  being  reached  and  saved  there. 

I  know  of  another  Association  that  had  a  building  with 
a  heavy  mortgage  on  it.  It  was  a  valuable  property.  The 
mortgage  was  to  be  foreclosed.  The  members  of  the  Associa- 
tion were  apathetic.  Some  held  part  of  the  mortgage.  The 
International  Committee  said,  'That  building  must  be  saved,' 
and  Mr.  Cree  was  sent  upon  the  errand.  He  had  not  many 
days  to  work.  From  one  of  the  men  from  whom  he  expected 
to  secure  a  considerable  subscription,  he  was  able  to  secure 
it  only  a  few  minutes  before  the  bank  closed  on  the  day  on 
which  the  mortgage  would  have  matured.  As  a  result  of  his 
promptness  the  building  was  saved,  a  Secretary  placed  in  that 
field,  and  good  Christian  work  is  being  carried  on  for  young 
men  there.  These  are  not  his  only  good  qualities.  He  leads 
gospel  meetings  in  the  places  he  visits  and  seeks  to  bring 
young  men  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Let  a  Secretary  be 
caring  for  secular,  to  the  neglect  of  spiritual  work,  when  Mr. 
Cree  comes  that  Secretary  will  have  his  work  criticised  with 
a  good  deal  of  plainness  of  speech  and  warmth  of  heart.  The 
story  of  the  reorganization  of  the  San  Francisco  Association, 
the  persistent  effort,  and  the  successful  result  in  that  city  in 
connection  with  the  payment  of  the  debt  upon  the  building 
of  over  180,000,  is  cause  for  profound  thanksgiving  to  God,  and 
makes  us  resigned  to  the  absence  of  Mr,  Cree  from  this  Con- 
vention," 


182  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

NiNTU  Year  of  General  Secretaryship 

1880-81 

Cleveland  Convention  of  1881 

At  Cleveland,  in  1881,  the  Convention  reqijested  its  Commit- 
tee to  secure  an  Act  of  Incorporation.  This  instruction  was  a 
vote  of  confidence  and  a  step  toward  more  firmly  establishing 
the  Committee,  where  it  had  now  been  located  on  probation 
for  fifteen  years.  The  only  discussion  concerning  a  change 
had  occurred  at  Lowell,  at  the  close  of  the  sixth  year  of  the 
Committee's  service,  and  had  ended  in  a  unanimous  vote  in 
favor  of  making  no  change. 

Outside  of  convention  sessions,  suggestions  of  a  change  in 
the  direction  of  the  West  had  been  made,  but  had  not  pointed 
to  any  definite  location.  These  suggestions  originated  where 
there  did  not  exist  capacity,  or  intelligent  consciousness  of 
capacity  to  assume  responsibility  for  the  growing  work  desired 
and  authorized  by  the  Conventions.  There  had  been  one  semi- 
official agitation  of  this  question  carried  on  in  an  Association 
bulletin  which  had  excited  some  attention,  and  a  change  was 
suggested,  without  any  definite  choice  of  another  location  and 
with  what  seemed  to  the  Committee  a  dangerous  misrepresen- 
tation of  its  attitude  and  work.  This  led  to  a  vigorous  corre- 
spondence, admirably  conducted  by  the  Chairman,  but  to 
obtain  adequate  correction  a  visit  from  the  Chairman  and 
myself  to  a  distant  city  proved  necessary.  It  was  a  critical 
conversational  conference,  with  half  a  dozen  fellow  workers, 
to  meet  whom  we  had  traveled  some  thousand  miles.  It  was 
one  of  the  finest  achievements  of  peace,  through  brotherly 
conference,  which  I  ever  saw  and  heard  Chairman  Brainerd 
or  any  other  man  accomplish.  It  completed  a  work  admirably 
begun  by  him  in  correspondence,  and  was  a  fine  illustration 
of  a  difficult  situation  in  which  he  was  performing  one  of  the 
best  of  many  kindred  services  he  rendered  the  brotherhood, 
both  by  correspondence  and  visitation.  It  now  seems  a  trivial 
eddy  in  a  wide  and  strong  current,  but  at  the  moment  it  com- 
manded much  time  and  very  vigilant  attention. 

The  Last  Report  of  von  Schluembach 
To  the  Cleveland   Convention   the   Committee's   Secretary, 


FIVE  YEARS  OF  VARIED  DEVELOPMENT  183 

Frederick  von  Schhiembach,  had  made  what  proved  to  be  his 
last  report  as  an  International  Secretary.  The  immediate 
cause  of  his  retirement  was  the  condition  of  his  health,  which 
made  necessary  his  return  to  Germany  for  a  protracted  ab- 
sence from  his  home  and  family.  For  four  years,  ending  in 
November,  1878,  as  General  Secretary  of  the  German  National 
Bund,  in  annual  tours  of  travel  at  the  Committee's  expense, 
he  had  accomplished  a  good  work.  Then,  owing  to  efforts  by 
his  own  and  the  Committee's  friends,  the  Methodist  Confer- 
ence to  which  he  belonged,  directed  him  in  November,  1878,  to 
report  to  the  International  Committee  for  service  as  Secretary 
of  its  German  work.  In  nine  of  our  principal  cities  which 
contained  the  largest  German  speaking  population,  he  formed 
and  fostered  successfully  self-sustaining  Associations  or 
branches,  locating  a  competent  German  speaking  Secretary  in 
six  of  them. 

In  New  York  City  he  made  a  profound  impression  upon  its 
German  speaking  Christian  citizens,  and  a  few  years  after 
this  from  them  and  other  friends  of  Association  work,  in 
cooperation  with  the  Committee  he  secured  a  fund  for  the 
purchase  of  a  branch  building  and  its  equipment  for  German 
speaking  young  men.  In  State  Conventions  and  parlor  confer- 
ences he  won  the  confidence  and  regard  of  the  brotherhood. 
When  his  health  failed,  and  he  went  to  Germany  for  the  heroic 
surgical  operation  which  resulted  ultimately  in  his  complete 
recovery,  we  expected  his  return  to  the  Committee.  From  his 
many  friends  during  his  absence  was  readily  obtained  what 
was  needed  in  the  interval  for  the  sui)port  of  his  wife  and 
family.  What  we  did  not  then  appreciate  was  that  he  had 
been  prepared  by  his  work  in  America  to  carry  home  to  his 
native  land  an  Association  message  destined  to  create  there 
an  Association  work  of  wider  influence  and  dimension,  and 
far  more  permanent  than  the  good  work  he  had  been  accom- 
plishing in  his  adopted  country. 

After  the  recovery  of  his  health,  and  in  connection  with  a 
remarkable  work  by  him  in  Berlin  as  an  evangelist,  he  formed 
in  that  city  in  1883  with  the  aid  of  Count  Andreas  von  Bern- 
stoff  as  President,  and  Baron  von  Rothkirck  as  an  associate, 
the  first  Christlicher  Verein  Junger  Manner.  Among  the  lay- 
men whose  interest  he  enlisted  as  Association  workers  and 


184  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

leaders  was  a  young  merchant  of  rare  promise — Christian 
Phildius,  who  was  moved  to  withdraw  from  a  business  career 
to  become  General  Secretary  of  this  new  Berlin  Association. 
The  Association  began  with  eighteen  members,  of  whom  Phil- 
dius was  one.  Within  a  little  more  than  a  year  it  was  occupy- 
ing an  entire  building  on  the  Friedrichstrasse,  alive  with  work 
and  workers,  finely  illustrating  the  best  American  type  of 
work  for  young  men  and  in  contrast  with  the  JungUngs  Verein. 
To  quote  the  words  of  Count  Bernstoflf,^  "The  new  Association 
was  founded  on  the  principles  held  in  America,  and  it  was 
thought  necessary  to  choose  the  new  name — Christlicher 
Verein  Junger  Manner.  The  parochial  system  of  the  Jung- 
lings  Verein  was  abandoned.  The  distinction  of  active  and 
associate  members  was  introduced,  and  a  General  Secretary 
appointed,  who  soon  required  a  staff  of  Secretaries  to  help 
him." 

Von  Schluembach  also  visited  Stuttgart,  the  capital  of  his 
native  Wtirtemburg,  which  Baedeker  calls  "the  capital  city  in 
Germany,  most  beautiful  for  situation,"  and  there  he  received 
a  cordial  welcome.  Through  his  influence  the  JungUngs 
Verein,  then  twenty-two  years  old,  became  a  Christlicher 
Verein  Junger  Manner. 

Twenty-eight  years  later,  in  1911,  I  accepted  the  invitation 
of  my  friend  Secretary  Elsasser  to  attend  the  Jubilee  of  the 
Stuttgart  Association  and  was  welcomed  to  a  building  and 
Association  of  the  first  rank,  being  assured  by  another  guest. 
National  Secretary  Helbing  from  Barman-Elberfeld,  the  his- 
toric home  and  center  of  the  JungUngs  Vereins,  that  we  were 
being  entertained  by  "the  model  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation of  Germany." 

After  his  return  from  Germany,  von  Schluembach  resumed 
his  office  and  work  as  a  German  speaking  pastor.  In  1884, 
at  the  request  of  the  Committee,  as  already  mentioned,  he 
secured  in  New  York  City  a  building  fund  for  the  German 
Branch,  He  continued  in  the  pastorate  until  the  close  of  his 
life,  a  faithful  minister  of  that  Gospel,  the  blessings  of  which 
he  had  brought  into  the  lives  and  work  of  multitudes  of  young 
men  in  both  his  native  and  his  adopted  country. 

He  was  succeeded  as  an  International  Secretary  by  one  of 

8  "Jubilee  of  Work  for  Young  Men"  (1901),  pp.  417,  418. 


FIVE  YEARS  OF  VARIED  DEVELOPMENT  185 

his  fellow  workers,  Claus  Olandt.  For  fifteen  years  Olandt 
devoted  himself  eflficiently  to  Association  work  and  workers 
among  German  speaking  young  men.  With  the  waning  of  the 
strong  tide  of  German  immigration,  young  men  of  German 
parentage  manifested  a  preference  for  English  speaking  Asso- 
ciation branches.  Gradually  the  local  Associations  yielded 
to  this  preference  of  their  members  of  German  descent  and 
language  and  with  their  cooperation  the  use  of  English  was 
introduced,  though  not  to  the  exclusion  of  German.  Mr.  Olandt 
continued  with  the  Committee  until  1897  and  then  entered  the 
pulpit  and  pastorate.  In  1916  he  accepted  an  appointment 
from  the  Committee  as  one  of  its  Secretaries  for  work  among 
the  soldiers  in  the  European  war  zone,  where  he  rendered 
noble  service. 

At  this  time,  by  instruction  of  the  Baltimore  Convention, 
its  Committee  began  a  work  among  commercial  travelers,  led 
by  its  very  acceptable  Secretary,  E.  W.  Watkins,  but  this  efifort 
did  not  result  successfully  in  a  permanent  commercial  travel- 
ers' department  of  the  Association  work — local,  State,  or 
International. 


CHAPTER  X 

ENTERING  THE  SECOND  DECADE 

Tenth  and  Eleventh  Years  op  General  Secretaryship 

1881-83 

International  Convention  of  1883 

At  the  Convention  of  1883  an  increase  of  254  Associations 
was  reported,  and  the  447  delegates  outnumbered  those  at  any 
Convention  since  the  rule  limiting  representation  had  been 
adopted  in  1871.  The  reports  received  showed  that  this  at- 
tendance resulted  from  a  growth  of  the  work  in  all  its  branches 
and  departments. 

The  President  of  the  Convention  at  Milwaukee  was  Charles 
L.  Colby,  whose  name  was  honored  throughout  Wisconsin  as 
that  of  a  highly  esteemed,  public-spirited,  Christian  citizen. 
He  was  President  of  the  Wisconsin  Central  Railroad,  and  the 
important  business  interests  with  which  he  was  identified 
were  soon  to  make  necessary  the  removal  of  his  residence  to 
New  York  City.  His  excellence  as  a  presiding  officer  was  a 
valued  asset  of  this  Convention,  and  his  contact  with  its  ses- 
sions made  him  better  acquainted  with  the  Committee  and 
its  work.  This  experience  prepared  him  to  become  one  of 
the  Committee's  most  active  members,  and  to  place  him  on 
that  ranking  list  of  donors  who  were  giving  more  than  their 
share.    To  the  Committee  in  his  will  he  left  |2,000. 

At  the  previous  Convention  in  Cleveland  (1881)  only  one 
opinion  was  expressed  concerning  the  need  of  an  Act  of  In- 
corporation for  the  Committee.  Already  the  Treasurer  had 
received  from  the  executors  of  the  will  of  William  E.  Dodge  a 
bequest  of  |5,000,  and  there  was  urgent  call  for  a  Board  of 
Trustees  to  hold  gifts  of  permanent  funds  coming  to  the 
Committee  by  bequest  or  otherwise.  Accordingly  such  an  Act 
had  been  procured  from  the  New  York  State.  Legislature,  and 
was  submitted  to  the  Convention  in  the  Committee's  report. 

186 


ENTERING  THE  SECOND  DECADE  187 

The  Convention  Committee  recommended  the  acceptance  and 
adoption  of  this  Act,  and — as  provided  for  in  it — the  election 
of  thirty-three  persons  as  members,  and  nine  as  advisory  mem- 
bers of  the  International  Committee,  who  should  hold  office, 
one-third  for  a  term  of  six  years ;  one-third  for  a  term  of  four 
years;  and  one-third  for  a  term  of  two  years.  The  Act  also 
named  and  incorporated  a  Board  of  fifteen  Trustees,  to  hold 
in  trust  all  real  property  for  the  Committee,  and  for  any 
particular  Association.  These  Trustees  were  to  be  a  self- 
perpetuating  Board.  Considerable  discussion  followed,  but 
no  definite  amendment  was  offered.  The  self-perpetuating  fea- 
ture of  the  Board  of  Trustees  was  objected  to,  but  it  was  sug- 
gested, and  seemed  reasonable,  that  if,  in  the  judgment  of 
any  future  Convention,  it  should  seem  best  to  adopt  a  dififerent 
method  of  perpetuating  the  Board,  any  reasonable  modification 
could  be  secured  in  response  to  the  desire  and  action  of  such 
Convention.    The  Act  was  then  accepted  by  a  large  majority. 

To  this  Convention  the  Committee  reported  an  annual  ex- 
penditure, beyond  precedent,  of  over  |27,500,  and  was  au- 
thorized to  increase  this,  if  possible,  to  |35,000  upon  lines  of 
work  already  begun.  The  Committee's  report  to  the  Conven- 
tion of  1883  in  one  paragraph  gives  an  interesting  answer  to 
the  question :  "What  is  the  work  of  the  International  Com- 
mittee?" 

"It  is  to  organize  local  Associations,  advise  with  local  and 
State  Secretaries  and  Boards  of  Management  about  the  diffi- 
culties experienced  in  State  and  local  work,  to  address  public 
meetings  and  parlor  conferences  in  regard  to  this  work  of  the 
Associations;  in  cases  of  special  stress  and  difficulty  to  raise 
money  for  the  employment  of  Secretaries,  for  the  erection  of 
buildings,  and  for  the  extinction  of  debts  which  threaten  the 
life  of  Associations ;  to  look  up  and  train  suitable  men  for  the 
office  of  General  Secretaries;  and,  when  solicited  by  Associa- 
tions, to  bring  such  men  to  their  notice;  to  disseminate  infor- 
mation touching  the  history,  character,  and  progress  of  Asso- 
ciation work,  by  the  use  of  newspapers,  printed  circulars,  re- 
ports, addresses,  and  tracts  upon  special  phases  of  the  work. 
Of  the  last  named  not  less  than  125,000  are  circulated  annually. 
The  Committee  especially  seeks  through  its  Secretaries,  to 
place  one  Association  after  another,  as  it  may  solicit  counsel 
and  aid,  in  such  a  position  that  it  will  not  thereafter  feel  it 
necessary  to  call  upon  the  Committee.    It  seeks  so  to  foster  the 


188  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Association  sentiment  in  one  state,  and  then  in  another,  that 
a  State  Secretary  can  be  supported  who  shall  care  for  and 
guide,  under  the  State  Committee,  the  work  in  a  given  section 
without  more  than  occasional  visits  from  the  representatives 
of  the  International  Committee. 

As  illustrating  the  work  of  our  Secretaries  in  a  given  city 
or  town,  one  of  many  letters  received  at  our  office  is  submitted : 

*Dear  Sir: 

I  desire  to  express  to  the  Committee,  on  behalf  of  our  Board 
of  Directors,  our  most  sincere  thanks  for  the  assistance  ren- 
dered through  Secretary  Cree.  Recently  he  spent  a  week  with 
us,  and  by  his  earnest  efforts  and  untiring  energy  succeeded 
in  placing  us  in  good  shape,  and  working  up  our  finances  for 
the  ensuing  year.  Coming  as  he  did  at  a  bad  time  of  the  year, 
we  ourselves  thought  it  almost  impossible  to  raise  a  sufficient 
amount  for  our  necessary  expenses.  This  being  a  cotton  sec- 
tion, there  is  no  great  amount  of  business  being  done  here  at 
present,  merchants  are  depressed,  and  business  men  are  al- 
most idle;  in  fact,  it  is  the  worst  time  in  the  whole  year  for 
raising  money  for  anything.  But  he  went  to  work  and  secured 
about  enough  for  all  our  needs.  "He  is  an  indefatigable  worker. 
He  made  many  friends  here,  strengthened  our  work  in  every 
way,  and  gave  us  some  excellent  suggestions.  Financially  and 
spiritually  we  are  stronger.  His  visit  helped  me  as  a  Secretary, 
wonderfully.  This  being  my  first  field,  he  gave  me  valuable 
assistance.  But  for  his  timely  aid  I  fear  the  Association  would 
have  "closed  up"  in  about  two  months.    We  will  never  forget 

him,  nor  will  the  students  of  the  University  here,  for 

the  work  he  did  among  them.  We  will  always  thank  you  for 
giving  us  his  service.'  "^ 

Secretarial  Training  Schools  Authorized 

To  the  Convention  of  1883,  the  Committee  in  its  report  pre- 
sented a  situation  of  grave  urgency  in  regard  to  the  need  of 
men  with  qualification  and  training  for  the  General  Secre- 
taryship. As  early  as  1872,  Weidensall  had  declared  that  a 
school  for  training  Secretaries  was  needed  and  had  prophesied 
that  one  would  be  established. 

Some  years  afterward,  about  1880,  I  made  a  vigorous  at- 
tempt to  establish  such  a  school.  At  that  time  the  Treasurer 
of  the  Committee,  Benjamin  C.  Wetmore,  was  an  active  lay- 
man of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  and  a  promoter  and 


>  Report  of  the  International  Convention  of  1883,  pp.  XXII-XXIII. 


ENTERING  THE  SECOND  DECADE  189 

teacher  in  a  House  or  school  in  New  York  City  for  training 
Christian  and  church  workers.  He  was  willing  to  attach  to 
this  institute  a  branch  for  the  training  of  Association  Secre- 
taries, if  a  suitable  man  could  be  secured  as  a  teacher  and 
principal. 

Charles  E.  Dyer  was  then  the  acceptable  General  Secretary 
at  Detroit,  and  seemed  to  me  one  of  the  Secretaries  best  quali- 
fied for  such  a  position.  To  begin  the  undertaking  I  had 
secured  the  offer  of  financial  help  to  the  amount  of  |3,000 
for  the  first  year.  Dyer  came  to  our  office  for  consultation 
and  was  willing  to  attempt  the  work  if  the  Committee  was 
ready  to  begin  the  school.  Among  our  influential  friends  and 
counselors  at  this  time  was  Dr.  Nathan  Bishop,  a  retired 
physician.  To  him  and  other  friends  the  clinical  or  appren- 
ticeship method  we  were  following,  of  seeking  for  men  among 
volunteers  on  the  working  committees  and  giving  them  train- 
ing by  contact  with  competent  Secretaries,  seemed  adequate 
to  our  present  need,  and  better  than  dependence  upon  a  school 
for  training.  It  was  an  apprenticeship  method  tested,  he 
thought,  and  not  found  wanting  in  some  branches  of  his  own 
medical  profession.  For  a  time  this  counsel  prevailed  with 
the  Committee  and  its  Secretarial  Bureau,  but  to  me  the 
decision  was  a  serious  disappointment. 

To  the  Milwaukee  Convention  of  1883  I  reported  the  fol- 
lowing attempt  to  reenforce  this  apprenticeship  method  of 
training.  "At  Harrisburg,  Poughkeepsie,  and  Newburg,  near 
New  York,  and  at  Peoria,  Illinois,  the  Secretaries  in  charge, 
James  McConaughy,  Wm.  H.  Morriss,  Jacob  T.  Bowne,  and 
L.  Wilbur  Messer,  through  careful  arrangement  from  the 
Committee's  Bureau,  are  receiving  candidates  for  the  secre- 
taryship, recommended  by  International,  State,  and  local  Sec- 
retaries, and  are  giving  them  instruction  in  the  work.  During 
two  years — 1881-2 — sixty-four  received  this  training,  of  whom 
fifty-two  are  now  in  the  work.  The  number  of  those  reported 
as  having  come  to  the  attention  of  the  Committee's  office  is 
two  hundred  and  ninety,  and  every  one  of  the  Committee's 
force  is  active  in  this  Secretarial  Department.  The  number 
of  college  graduates  entering  the  oflSce  is  increasing."  James 
McCormick,  in  adding  another  to  his  many  offers  of  timely 
help,  gave  me  liberty  to  offer  to  promising  candidates  the 


190  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

payment  of  their  expenses,  when  such  help  was  necessary  to 
secure  for  them  this  opportunity.  When  I  sent  to  him  for  the 
amount  needed  on  behalf  of  a  dozen  such  young  men,  with  a 
mortifying  confession  that  four  of  them  had  not  made  good, 
he  replied,  enclosing  his  check  for  the  amount  desired,  and 
adding  that  he  paid  for  those  four  with  a  peculiar  satisfaction 
because  he  had  thus  prevented  the  serious  loss  to  Associa- 
tions which  otherwise  would  have  been  sustained  in  experi- 
menting with  these  candidates! 

While  much  had  been  accomplished  by  this  clinical  method, 
the  call  for  a  Training  School  was  not  silenced.  The  Con- 
vention of  1883  after  approving  of  its  secretarial  work  and 
authorizing  the  Committee  to  expend  at  least  |3,000  annually 
in  increasing  its  efficiency,  also  resolved  that  to  the  next  Con- 
vention should  be  presented  "a  plan  for  a  permanent  Institute 
or  Training  School  for  Candidates."  This  action  opened  the 
way  to  the  gradual  establishment  of  such  a  school.  Following 
the  instruction  to  enlarge  its  Secretarial  Department  the 
Committee  promptly  secured  as  its  Secretary  for  that  depart- 
ment, Jacob  T.  Bowne,  who  had  shown  qualification  for  such 
a  position  while  Secretary  at  Newburgh,  where  he  had  dealt 
very  acceptably  with  candidates  who  had  been  sent  to  him  for 
training.2 

Chicago  Representation  and  Development 

To  the  Milwaukee  Convention  there  came  from  Chicago, 
representing  the  strong  new  departure  in  that  city,  James  L. 
Houghteliug,  its  new  President,  and  Cyrus  H.  McCormick  and 
John  V.  Farwell,  Jr.  These  directors  and  the  General  Secre- 
tary, A.  T.  Hemingway,  had  begun  to  establish  the  Association 
upon  the  basis  of  the  entire  fourfold  work. 

The  beginning  of  this  new  departure  at  Chicago  dated,  as 
did  that  in  San  Francisco,  from  an  evangelistic  campaign  of 
Moody's,  held  in  that  city  in  the  year  1877,  following  his 
Hippodrome  meetings  in  New  York.  At  his  request  the  Com- 
mittee was  glad  to  depute  Thomas  K.  Cree  to  be  the  Executive 
Secretary  of  the  Chicago  campaign,  as  he  had  been  of  that  in 
Philadelphia.  Thus  Moody  began  to  bring  the  Committee  into 
vital  touch  with  the  problems  of  Association  work  in  Chicago. 

»  p.  258. 


ENTERING  THE  SECOND  DECADE  191 

One  result  of  this  campaign  was  the  election  of  a  leading 
merchant  of  the  city,  Turlington  W.  Harvey,  as  President  of 
the  Chicago  Association. 

In  the  series  of  parlor  conferences,  after  the  Louisville  Con- 
vention, the  third  on  the  list  was  held  at  Chicago  in  February, 
1878,  and  in  1880  and  1881  two  similar  conferences  were  held, 
also  in  February,  The  second  of  these  met  in  the  new  home 
of  Cyrus  H,  McCormick,  James  McCormick  coming  from 
Harrisburg  to  preside.  The  work  of  the  Committee  was  fully 
presented  by  its  Secretaries.  Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  Jr., 
recently  graduated  at  Princeton,  had  begun  to  be  interested 
in  the  work  both  of  the  Committee  and  of  the  Chicago  Associa- 
tion, as  a  result  of  these  successive  contacts  with  International 
counsel  and  cooperation.  During  these  first  years  of  transition 
to  the  broad  fourfold  work  in  the  second  city  on  the  continent, 
Turlington  W.  Harvey  rendered,  as  President,  an  invaluable 
service.  Whenever  I  visited  the  city  he  befriended  me  with 
counsel  and  cooperation  which  were  invaluable.  He  and 
Henr}"  J,  Willing  were  among  the  friends  of  those  strenuous 
years,  whose  memory  I  cherish  most  gratefully.  Both  of  them 
helped,  with  Hemingway,  Weidensall,  and  myself,  to  enlist 
James  L.  Houghteling  in  1882  as  the  successor  of  Mr,  Harvej^ 
in  the  presidency.  Mr.  Houghteling  was  a  recent  graduate 
of  Yale  and  the  j'Oungest  member  of  the  Chicago  Commercial 
Club,  whose  enrolment  was  limited  to  sixty  members.  John 
V.  Farwell,  Jr.,  another  graduate  of  Yale,  some  years  later 
succeeded  Mr.  Houghteling  as  President. 

It  was  this  new  departure  which  was  signalized  at  Mil- 
waukee by  the  Chicago  delegation,  and  by  a  trenchant  paper 
from  President  Houghteling  on  the  theme,  "What  the  Com- 
munity Has  a  Eight  to  Expect  From  the  Association,  and 
What  the  Association  Has  a  Right  to  Expect  From  the  Com- 
munity," This  paper  was  at  once  published  by  the  Committee 
in  pamphlet  form  and  had  a  wide  circulation. 

Enlargement  of  the  International  Committee 

As  provided  in  the  Act  of  Incorporation,  the  Milwaukee  Con- 
vention enlarged  the  International  Committee  to  consist  of 
thirty-three  regular  voting  members  and  nine  advisory  mem- 
bers, with  a  Board  of  fifteen  Trustees.    Of  these,  ten  regular 


192  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

and  three  advisory  members  composed  the  quorum,  and  were 
resident  in  New  York  City  and  its  vicinity.  By  this  increase 
of  the  number  in  New  York,  six  new  members  were  secured 
who  were  available  to  man  the  sub-committees  which  were 
now  necessary  to  aid  the  Chairman  in  a  work  of  administra- 
tion which  was  growing  too  onerous  for  him. 

Mr.  Vanderbilt  already  had  been  placed  in  charge  of  the 
Railroad  Department,  and  Henry  Webster  and  Cleveland  H. 
Dodge  were  entrusted  with  the  direction  of  the  College  Work, 

To  the  sub-committees  in  charge  of  other  departments  were 
added  Moses  Taylor  Pyne  and  Richard  M.  Colgate.  This  en- 
largement of  the  Committee  and  its  work  distributed  growing 
responsibilities  among  sub-committees.  To  my  conferences 
with  the  Chairman  were  now  added  the  calling  and  attendance 
upon  meetings  of  these  sub-committees. 

Development  of  State  and  Local  Work 

The  Louisville  Convention  had  released  its  Committee  from 
the  burden  connected  with  the  annual  Convention,  and  more 
of  my  time  was  given  to  attending  and  strengthening  the 
twenty-five  State  and  Provincial  Conventions.  The  years 
since  1870  had  been  an  interesting  period  of  transition  during 
which  was  gradually  accomplished,  without  bitter  controversy, 
a  radical  change  in  the  method  and  staff  of  State  and  Pro- 
vincial Work,  already  stated  elsewhere.  Meanwhile,  a  cor- 
responding change  in  the  local  work  had  been  gradually 
effected  by  local  Association  leaders — a  change  strongly  pro- 
moted also  by  the  discussions  and  conclusions  of  the  Annual 
Secretaries'  Conference. 

From  a  city  where  the  Association  had  attempted  to  do  a 
work  wholly  evangelistic,  a  prominent  Christian  man  of  public 
spirit,  who  had  himself  been  active  and  self-denying  in  the 
work,  wrote  me : 

"I  have  felt  for  years  past  that  our  work  though  most  valu- 
able in  one  respect  was  a  minus  quantity  in  what  appears  to 
me  to  be  the  very  center  point  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association.  It  lacked  holding  power  upon  young  men  as  a 
preventive  and  home  agency.  It  was  merely  doing  some  evan- 
gelistic work  among  some  of  our  young  men.  But  from  my 
experience  of  the  last  fifteen  years,  I  have  found  that,  however 
valuable  this  work  may  be  as  an  adjunct,  it  is  not  the  sole  and 


ENTERING  THE  SECOND  DECADE  193 

whole  work  of  the  Association.  To  the  thousands  of  young 
men  who  have  not  this  advantage  we  want  to  offer  the  elements 
of  a  well  organized  club  or  social  resort  without  the  concomi- 
tants that  make  it  injurious.  Through  our  new  Secretary,  I 
trust  we  shall  be  able  in  our  city  before  long  to  model  our 
Association  on  this  basis  with  adequate  equipment." 

An  Association  President  of  the  period,  subjected  to  pressure 
from  unwise  friends,  writes: 

*^We  must  stem  the  tide  of  every  variety  of  suggestion  and 
objection — from  the  depraved  desecrator,  who  urges  that  we 
should  eradicate  Christian  from  the  name,  throw  the  Bible 
out  of  the  window  and  introduce  the  pool  ball  and  the  poker 
chip,  to  the  devotioualist,  who  demands  that  we  purge  the 
temple,  close  the  gymnasium,  shut  up  the  reading  room, 
banish  sociability  and  entertainments,  and  permit  nothing  but 
plain  chairs,  bare  walls,  and  a  perpetual  high  pressure  prayer 
meeting.  Avoiding  either  extreme,  the  mission  of  the  Associa- 
tion is  to  seek  to  benefit  the  young  man  in  body,  mind,  and 
spirit,  physically,  socially,  educationally,  and  spiritually." 

An  unprecedented  union  of  Association  leaders — local,  State, 
and  International — was  thus  promoted  upon  the  distinctive 
fourfold  work,  and  the  Associations  now  were  getting  ready 
for  specialization  upon  each  feature  of  this  composite  work, 
which  they  had  heretofore  developed  as  a  unit. 

During  this  period  of  transition  the  Associations  had 
become  unanimous  in  the  adoption  of  the  evangelical  church 
basis  of  membership,  giving  new  emphasis  to  their  union  with 
the  Church.  The  city  Associations  also,  through  their  super- 
visory agencies,  began  to  foster  among  college,  railroad,  Ger- 
man speaking,  and  colored  men  that  extension  of  the  work 
to  different  classes  which  was  destined  steadily  to  expand  the 
Association  movement  on  this,  and  eventually  on  all  other  con- 
tinents. 

The  change  of  emphasis  in  State  Work  had  been  peacefully 
accomplished  and  Association  leaders,  both  State  and  Inter- 
national, began  to  place  the  stress  of  their  endeavor  upon  im- 
provement in  method  and  staff  of  work  and  workers.  For  the 
State  Convention  of  New  York  I  was  asked  for  a  paper  upon 
the  "Primary  Principles  of  State  Work"  and  took  the  ground 
that  State  Committees — as  well  as  the  International — had 
gradually  learned  in  the  school  of  experience  that  the  pre- 


194  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

liminary  to  wise  extension  must  be  careful  supervision  or 
overlooking  of  existing  Association  work,  resting  on  an  ac- 
curate knowledge  of  new  departures  and  developments.  It  is 
only  as  the  supervisory  agency  stands  for  the  accumulated 
experience  of  the  best  Associations  on  its  field  that  it  is  in  a 
position  to  extend  the  work.  Its  province  is  primarily  super- 
vision without  authority  and  secondly  extension  of  the  area  of 
the  Association  field. 

In  the  beginning  and  for  more  than  the  first  decade  (18G6- 
79)  the  majority  of  the  State  Conventions  were  held  in  the 
autumn,  but  it  was  not  a  favorable  season  for  the  attendance 
of  laymen.  In  1880  the  New  York  Committee  made  trial  of 
February,  Ohio  and  Michigan  followed,  and  after  a  few  years 
February  became  the  favorite  State  Convention  month. 

As  the  state  organizations  grew  stronger  they  entered  upon 
that  closer  supervision,  reaching  to  the  smaller  cities  and  com- 
munities, which  was  a  field  peculiarly  their  own.  How  most 
effectively  to  combine  this  close  sui^ervision,  as  it  was  termed, 
with  the  general  supervision  entrusted  to  the  International 
Committee  became  a  problem  which  in  some  instances  was 
difficult  of  solution.  And  as  the  dei^artments  of  the  Associa- 
tions increased  in  number,  and  the  calls  upon  the  supervisory 
agencies  multiplied,  questions  concerning  the  relationship  of 
these  agencies  to  one  another  and  to  the  local  organizations 
which  had  created  them  caused  discussion  and  differences  of 
opinion  which  led  to  important  action  by  future  Conventions.^ 

The  Annual  Meeting  op  the  International  Committee  and 
ITS  Secretaries 

Enlargement  of  the  work  and  working  force  of  the  Com- 
mittee led  to  the  creation  of  a  new  agency  in  administration. 
Its  birthplace  was  McBurney's  tower  room  in  ''the  old  23rd 
Street  building."  In  a  letter  of  December,  1882,  a  few  months 
before  the  Milwaukee  Convention,  I  wrote :  "December  is  a  stay- 
at-home-month  with  me.  (This  was  true  of  every  December 
from  18G9  to  1902.)  At  the  close  of  the  year,  ofiice  work  is 
unusually  engrossing.  One  by  one  the  Secretaries  of  the  Com- 
mittee have  been  summoned  for  report  and  consultation,  until 
the  week  before  Christmas  found  them  all,  save  one,  in  the 

»  Pp.  442-65. 


ENTERING  THE  SECOND  DECADE  195 

city.  We  dined  and  spent  an  evening  together  in  McBurney's 
Tower-sky-Secretarial  Parlor.  Four  members  of  the  Committee 
were  present  with  eight  Secretaries.  We  tarried  together  until 
nearly  midnight  and  traversed  the  entire  round  of  the  wide 
work  entrusted  to  us.  It  was  one  of  the  most  satisfactory 
reviews  of  the  situation  that  I  have  listened  to.  The  only  un- 
welcome note  came  from  the  financial  quarter.  Some  uncer- 
tainty was  expressed  lest  the  gifts  of  the  year  might  not  equal 
the  expenses.  But  day  before  yesterday  (Dec.  29th)  there 
came  by  telegram  and  mail  from  San  Francisco,  Chicago, 
Augusta,  and  nearer  points,  enough  money  to  enable  the 
Treasurer  to  close  his  books  yesterday  morning  with  a  balance 
of  less  than  twenty  dollars  in  the  bank !" 

The  four  members  present  were  Chairman  Brainerd,  Mc- 
Burney,  Benjamin  C.  Wetmore,  and  Henry  M.  Moore,  of  Bos- 
ton. The  eight  Secretaries  were  Weidensall,  Cree,  Uhl,  Inger- 
soll,  Watkins,  H.  E.  Brown,  Wieting,  and  the  General  Secre- 
tary. A  turkey  dinner  was  served  in  the  tower  room  by  the 
janitor  and  his  wife,  the  Chairman  carving  the  turkey.  This 
was  the  historic  beginning  of  the  Committee's  Anniversary 
dinner  meeting,  now  (1917)  in  its  thirty-fifth  year  and  of 
greatly  enlarged  dimensions.^ 

The  Committee's  expenditure  for  1882  had  been  |25,868.89. 
During  that  December  evening  every  Secretary,  save  one 
absentee,  Luther  D.  Wishard,  was  heard  from.  Many  questions 
were  asked  and  answered.  All  were  convinced  that  it  was  a 
new  kind  of  helpful  consultation.  It  was  agreed  to  arrange 
for  such  a  meeting  in  Milwaukee  immediately  ujjon  the  adjourn- 
ment there  of  the  International  Convention  of  that  year.  There 
ten  Committee  men  and  seven  Secretaries  received  the  same 
impression  that  had  been  made  at  the  dinner  in  the  tower  room. 
This  time  they  spent  six  hours  together,  taking  dinner  be- 
tween the  two  sessions.  For  several  years  in  November  or 
December  these  meetings  continued  to  be  held  and  were  con- 
fined to  members  of  the  Committee  and  Secretaries.  But  the 
presentation  of  the  work  proved  so  superior  to  that  practicable 
in  parlor  conferences,  that  gradually  friends  of  the  work  were 
invited. 

In  1886  by  invitation  of  the  Chicago  members  of  the  Com- 

♦  The  attendance  in  November,  1916,  was  over  700. 


196  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

mittee,  two  such  dinners  were  given  in  that  city — in  April  and 
November — attended  by  many  friends.  For  the  purposes  of 
the  Committee  these  meetings  were  of  increasing  value,  for 
they  steadily  enlarged  the  constituency  of  friends  intelligently 
acquainted  with  what  was  being  accomplished  by  each  de- 
partment. On  the  other  hand  the  original  object  of  the  meet- 
ing, as  a  consultation  between  Committee  and  Secretaries,  was 
not  promoted  by  this  growing  attendance.  Also,  a  better  sea- 
son of  the  year  for  such  a  consultation  was  the  month  of 
September,  after  the  summer  recess  and  at  the  opening  of  a 
new  year  of  work.  Therefore  in  1893  a  change  was  made. 
The  dinner  meetings  were  continued  in  November  or  Decem- 
ber as  an  anniversary  occasion  when  the  whole  work  could  be 
presented  by  all  the  Secretaries  to  the  Committee  and  con- 
stituency, so  far  as  these  could  be  brought  together.  In  1893 
the  annual  consultation  meeting  began  to  take  jilace  in  Septem- 
ber. Both  these  features  of  the  Committee's  administration 
have  been  continued  and  expanded  with  the  growth  of  its 
work  and  both  date  their  origin  from  the  dinner  of  1882  in  the 
tower  room.  In  1917  the  September  meeting  began  to  be  held 
in  the  spring  as  a  more  convenient  season  of  the  year. 

Marriage 

Some  weeks  before  the  Milwaukee  Convention  I  had  become 
engaged  to  be  married  to  Miss  Jane  Elizabeth  Van  Cott,  daugh- 
ter of  Hon.  Joshua  Marsden  Van  Cott,  a  lawyer  of  wide  and 
honorable  repute  in  both  Brooklyn  and  New  York.  Two  large 
families — of  ten  and  eleven  children,  eighteen  of  whom  were 
then  living — were  thus  brought  by  us  into  nearer  relation  to 
one  another.  For  many  years  there  had  been  pleasant  inter- 
course among  us.  An  older  sister  of  Miss  Van  Cott  I  had 
known  as  the  fiancee  and  later  the  wife  of  my  intimate  friend 
and  classmate  Henry  H.  Stebbins.  Soon  after  our  graduation 
together  in  1867  I  had  served  as  "best  man"  at  their  wedding 
in  the  Van  Cott  homestead.  And  now  in  the  same  family  home 
(June  21,  1883)  we  were  married  by  Dr.  Stebbins,  then  pastor 
of  Grace  Presbyterian  Church  in  Oswego,  New  York,  assisted 
by  the  pastor  and  friend  of  the  bride,  Dr.  Richard  S.  Storrs, 
of  Brooklyn. 

Not  long  after  our  marriage,  at  one  of  the  dinner  meetings 


ENTERING  THE  SECOND  DECADE  197 

of  the  Committee  held  in  Brooklyn,  after  a  vivid  presentation 
of  the  work  of  the  Committee  by  its  entire  stafiF,  Mrs.  Morse's 
father,  as  our  honored  guest,  made  a  vigorous  address  in  which 
with  fine  discrimination  he  characterized  the  work  of  the 
Association  and  its  International  Committee  as  "a  happy 
combination  of  the  Christian  religion  and  common — or  as  it 
might  be  better  termed — uncommon-sense."  At  the  close  of  the 
evening,  when  the  speaker  was  lamenting  to  a  group  of  the 
staff  the  smalluess  of  the  contribution  he  was  able  to  make 
to  a  work  in  which  he  was  so  deei)ly  interested,  he  encountered 
a  chorus  of  protest  with  an  emphatic  assertion  that  in  the  per- 
son of  his  daughter  he  was  making  a  contribution  of  value 
altogether  incalculable  in  the  terms  of  finance  and  inestimable 
in  the  coinage  of  character  and  cooperation. 

For  me  our  wedding  was  the  beginning  of  an  unusually 
happy  married  life  of  thirty-four  years.  Our  tastes  and 
temperaments  were  congenial,  and  their  points  of  difference 
or  variation  have  promoted  in  a  gracious  way  a  growing  agree- 
ment and  fellowship,  quite  beyond  mj-  power  adequately  to 
describe.  In  all  my  work  and  in  very  many  journeyings  over 
seas  and  lands  we  have  enjoyed  a  partnership  that  has  meant 
invaluable  mutual  cooperation.  Without  such  cooperation  this 
narrative  could  not  have  been  produced.  Children  have  been 
denied  us,  to  our  great  sorrow,  but  to  our  great  joy  our  home 
has  been  constantly  shared  by  the  many  children  of  our 
brothers  and  sisters,  both  with  their  parents  and  without  them. 
College  and  Association  friends  and  fellow  workers  from  this 
and  other  lands  also  have  been  frequent  and  welcome  guests. 

For  the  first  fifteen  years  (1883-98)  of  our  married  life,  be- 
cause my  private  office  was  in  our  home,  the  home  was  neces- 
sarily located  near  the  Committee's  headquarters  in  the  "old 
23rd  Street  building,"  at  the  corner  of  Fourth  Avenue.  Then 
until  1904  we  dwelt  in  the  Harlem  district  of  Manhattan.  But 
after  she  had  thus  for  over  twenty  years  come  to  my  side  of 
the  East  River  it  seemed  only  fair  to  cast  our  lot  near  the  Van 
Cott  homestead  on  her  side  of  that  stream.  Meanwhile  Brook- 
lyn had  become  a  borough  of  the  greater  city,  united  first  by 
bridge  and  then  more  closely  by  subway.  Here,  as  the  years 
went  by,  even  her  busy  life  seemed  to  grow  busier  in  its  minis- 
try to  others,  both  within  and  beyond  the  family  circle.    When 


198  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

her  lovely  spirit  went  home  in  1917,  she  had  completed  as 
a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Women's  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  over  twenty-five  years  of  a  service  of  wise  and  grow- 
ing leadership.  Robert  Speer  has  written  of  this  service: 
''There  are  places  where  it  will  be  hard  to  grow  accustomed  to 
the  absence  of  her  bright  understanding,  the  quick  apprehen- 
sion of  her  clear  mind,  and  the  shrewd  sense  and  judgment 
of  her  counsel." 
Of  her  recent  departure  another  friend  'writes  me : 

April  24,  1917. 
"My  dear  Mr.  Morse : 

Mrs.  Morse's  body  had  been  laid  to  rest  and  her  beautiful 
spirit  had  gone  home  before  I  knew  anything  at  all  except  af 
her  first  illness.  I  feel  as  if  I  should  have  liked  to  look  in 
her  face  again,  for  she  was  always  an  inspiration  to  me.  When 
our  babies  were  little  in  Japan,  she  was  in  our  home  and  did 
me  so  much  good  with  her  cheer  and  bright  ways.  I  remember 
she  introduced  Benjamin  Bunny  and  Peter  Rabbit  into  our 
household  where  they  have  been  favorites  ever  since.  Later, 
here  at  home  it  has  always  been  a  joy  to  see  her:  carrying  her 
years  so  gracefully  and  keeping  her  heart  young  in  her  service 
for  others.  The  last  time  1  visited  with  her  was  when  we  met 
in  New  York  to  talk  over  life  in  Japan.  It  was  beautiful  to 
see  her  loving  thought  of  you  then.  Indeed,  I  have  often  felt 
I  should  like  to  be  as  Mrs.  Morse  was,  when  I  grow  old. 

The  other  side  holds  no  terrors  with  so  many  of  our  dear 
ones  there.    It  becomes  nearer  as  the  years  go  on. 

May  the  Comforter  keep  us  and  make  us  fit  to  join  all  our 
loved  ones  over  there." 

The  Conventions  of  1885  and  1887 

Recent  Conventions  had  been  traveling  westward  from 
Toronto  and  Baltimore  to  Cleveland  and  Milwaukee  and  now 
in  1885  at  Atlanta  the  Convention  was  entertained  with  genuine 
southern  hospitality,  for  this  was  in  the  era  before  self-enter- 
taining Conventions  were  introduced.  Major  Joseph  Hardie 
ten  years  before  this  time  had  been  president  at  Richmond,  and 
during  the  interval  had  been  an  unusually  active,  devoted  mem- 
ber of  the  International  Committee,  advocating  its  work  at 
parlor  conferences  and  elsewhere  by  wide  visitation.  He  was 
enthusiastically  chosen  at  Atlanta  to  preside  a  second  time. 

The  friend  who  brought  to  this  Convention  the  moving 
spiritual  and  evangelistic  message  which  it  carried  to  the  city 


Mr.  axd  Mks.  Morse  Uxder  the  Richard  C.  Morse  Tree  at 
Seabeck,  Washington,  1915 


ENTERING  THE  SECOND  DECADE  199 

and  citizens  of  Atlanta  was  the  saintly  Bishop  Baldwin,  of 
Huron,  who  came  from  Canada,  as  the  guest  of  the  Convention, 
to  open  the  Bible  topic  on  Wednesday  evening.  His  theme 
was:  "Is  the  Bible  Adapted  to  Young  Men  of  Today,  and  If 
So,  Why?''  He  also  led  very  impressively  the  devotional  serv- 
ices of  the  delegates.  The  devotional  and  evangelistic  message, 
emphasized  by  the  good  Bishop,  produced  a  j)rofound  impres- 
sion upon  the  people  of  Atlanta.  This  interest  culminated 
during  Sunday  and  was  felt  in  all  the  churches  as  a  revival 
influence.  Henry  W.  Grady,  gifted  and  eloquent  editor  of  the 
leading  journal  in  that  section  of  the  country — the  Atlanta 
Constitution,  was  among  those  most  profoundly  wrought  upon, 
and  his  public  testimony  to  the  change  he  had  exfterienced  was 
a  moving  incident  of  that  last  day  of  the  Convention,  which 
was  also  the  first  Sunday  of  a  revival  led  by  the  pastors  of  the 
city  and  by  one  of  the  delegates  who  tarried  for  the  purpose 
— Dr.  L.  W.  Munhall,  of  Indiana,  Like  Moody,  Sankey,  Say- 
ford,  Yatman,  Hillis,  Sunday,  and  others.  Dr.  Munhall,  after 
strong  leadership  and  good  training  in  Association  work,  was 
about  to  enter  now  the  path  of  fruitful  evangelistic  effort, 
where  for  over  thirty  years  he  has  been  bringing  an  ever- 
growing multitude  into  the  Church  and  Kingdom  of  our  Lord. 
One  feature  of  this  religious  interest  was  the  number  of 
leading  citizens  who  were  influenced.  They  belonged  to  the 
group  of  business  men  who,  by  their  energy  and  enterprise, 
had  been  earning  for  the  city  its  title  to  preeminence.  Natu- 
rally this  impression  upon  the  heart  and  life,  connected  as 
it  was  with  a  new  presentation  of  the  nature  of  Association 
work  for  young  men,  led  to  a  strong  demand  for  such  an 
Association  building  as  should  be  worthy  of  the  city.  To 
promote  this  undertaking,  I  tarried  with  some  of  my  associates 
for  some  days  after  the  Convention.  The  first  night,  in  a 
remarkable  parlor  meeting,  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Grady 
and  men  like-minded,  $20,000  was  pledged  toward  the  build- 
ing fund.  The  Atlanta  Constitution  in  every  daily  issue — 
beginning  with  the  following  morning,  Tuesday,  May  19th — 
announced  the  progress  of  the  campaign,  and  became  the  lead- 
ing solicitor  for  the  fund.  A  wide  canvass  in  this  novel  news- 
paper endeavor  was  carried  to  a  successful  result,  and  Atlanta 
promptly  secured  its  first  Association  building. 


200  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

After  tJie  Conventiou  an  important  meeting  of  the  Com- 
mittee and  its  corresponding  members  and  Secretaries  was 
held.  Major  Hardie,  Captain 'Charles  W.  Lovelace,  and  other 
delegates  from  the  South,  were  urgent  that  the  Committee 
should  place  a  Secretary  who  should  give  all  his  time  to  that 
section  of  the  country.  Only  a  part  of  Cree's  time  had  been 
given  there  and  progress  had  been  made.  This  only  empha- 
sized the  call  for  more  incessant  supervision  and  led  to  the 
assignment  of  Charles  K.  Ober,  and  later  of  Hans  P.  Ander- 
sen, to  this  field  of  service,  with  headquarters  at  Atlanta. 

Two  notable  guests  from  Europe  attended  both  the  Conven- 
tion and  the  Secretaries'  Conference  of  that  year:  Christian 
Phildius,  the  Berlin  Secretary,  and  Edmund  J.  Kennedy,  who 
had  succeeded  Hind  Smith  as  Secretary  at  Exeter  Hall,  London. 
At  the  Berlin  Conference  in  1884,  Mrs.  Morse  and  I  had  en- 
joyed being  the  guests  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Phildius,  and  now  we 
had  the  pleasure  of  entertaining  both  him  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kennedy  in  our  home. 

To  the  Convention  Mr.  Phildius  said: 

''The  work  of  your  International  Committee  has  been  inter- 
national indeed.  It  has  reached  across  the  ocean  and  through 
Frederic  von  Schluembach  an  Association  like  yours  in  Amer- 
ica has  been  organized  in  Berlin.  As  soon  as  we  began  your 
Committee  did  all  they  could  to  help.  Your  General  Secretary 
has  bestowed  a  fatherly  care  upon  the  work  in  Berlin.  I  have 
been  asked  to  come  over  as  your  guest  and  study  Association 
work  here.  Germany  is  much  indebted  to  the  efforts  of  your 
Committee." 

Phildius  made  a  careful  study  of  our  work  at  first  hand, 
visiting  a  group  of  the  leading  Associations.  He  very  favor- 
ably impressed  his  American  fellow  Secretaries,  and  gave  us 
the  impression  of  having  accomplished,  with  his  associates 
in  Berlin,  a  work  for  young  men  that  compared  favorably  with 
what  the  best  of  Association  Secretaries  had  achieved  in  other 
lands.  He  was  spoken  of  among  our  Secretaries  as  ''the  Mc- 
Burney  of  the  continent  of  Europe."  His  experience  on  this 
trip  opened  his  path  to  several  later  visits,  all  of  which  were 
of  international  value  to  the  work  of  the  world  brotherhood. 
To  that  brotherhood  since  1896  he  has  given  faithful  and  in- 
estimable service  as  a  General  Secretary  of  its  World's  Com- 
mittee. 


ENTERING  THE  SECOND  DECADE  201 

The  Secretarial  Bureau  and  the  Historical  Library 

From  Secretary  Jacob  T.  Bowne,  the  Atlanta  Convention 
received  encouraging  report  of  his  first  two  years  in  charge 
of  the  Secretarial  Bureau.  Uj^on  careful  examination  of  our 
records,  he  reported  that  in  1883  there  were  322  Secretaries 
on  the  roll  at  work  in  231  Associations.  In  1885,  the  number 
was  399  in  273  Associations.  This  was  part  of  a  steady  in- 
crease from  the  114  men  who  were  on  its  roll  in  1876.  Dur- 
ing the  decade  there  had  been  improvement  also  in  the  quality 
of  work  and  workers.  During  the  past  two  years  he  had  dealt 
with  432  men  as  candidates  and  of  this  number  161  found 
places  in  the  work,  of  whom  107  were  suggested  by  the  Bureau. 

To  this  Convention  also  the  Committee  through  its  chairman 
reported  the  very  generous  gift  from  Secretary  Bowne  of 
what  is  now  known  as  ''The  Bowne  Historical  Library."  It 
was  then  and  is  now  the  best  collection  yet  made  of  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  literature.  Secretary  Bowne  had 
spent  many  years  and  rendered  an  invaluable  service  in  col- 
lecting, arranging,  and  preserving  this  large  and  important 
collection.  And  now  he  gave  it  to  the  Associations  to  be  held 
in  trust  for  them  by  their  Committee.  The  Convention  ac- 
knowledged the  gift  with  hearty  thanks  to  the  donor  and  re- 
quested all  the  Associations  to  send  to  it  two  copies  of  each 
of  their  publications.  Mr.  Bowne  continued  to  give  his  in- 
dispensable fostering  care  as  its  custodian  after  he  became 
in  1886  instructor  and  then  librarian  at  the  Springfield  Train- 
ing School.  In  1908  when  the  Committee  could  accommodate 
the  collection  in  a  fireproof  building  of  its  own,  the  library 
was  removed  to  New  York.  Meanwhile  at  Springfield,  Pro- 
fessor Bowne  had  begun  a  duplicate  collection  for  the  Train- 
ing School.  In  its  turn  quite  recently  (1912)  a  fire  proof 
building  was  provided  on  the  campus  of  the  college  for  this 
second  collection.  Both  collections  constitute  a  double  gift 
to  the  entire  world  brotherhood,  the  value  of  which  will 
steadily  grow  with  the  years  and  awaken  gratitude  to  the 
founder  from  generation  to  generation  of  Association  leaders 
and  workers. 

The  Convention  of  1887  at  San  Francisco 
At  Atlanta  two  cities — Philadelphia  and  San  Francisco— 


202  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

asked  importunately  for  the  next  Convention.  The  call  from 
the  Pacific  Coast  for  its  first  Convention  prevailed,  provided 
the  Committee  could  incur  the  expense  involved  in  the  neces- 
sary arrangements  for  attendance,  and  could  obtain  the  needed 
concessions  for  transportation.  It  was  a  pioneer  undertaking, 
for  none  of  the  Conventions  had  been  held  beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  we  were  asked  to  cross  not  only  that  river,  but 
the  Eocky  Mountains  also.  It  would  break  a  path  to  the 
Pacific,  so  we  were  told,  for  other  Conventions  than  ours. 
During  the  following  year,  while  correspondence  and  delibera- 
tion on  this  subject  were  in  progress,  Elbert  B.  Monroe  ex- 
pressed to  me  his  conviction  that  the  Committee  could  not 
issue  an  effectual  call  to  the  Associations  to  be  adequately 
represented  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  unless  an  extra  fund  of  at 
least  |5,000  could  be  secured  for  such  visitations  and  program 
arrangements  as  would  secure  a  Convention  worthy  to  rank 
with  those  of  the  past  and  future.  In  connection  with  his 
suggestion  and  according  to  his  custom,  he  offered  one-tenth 
of  such  a  fund.  This  good  beginning  was  followed  by  the  com- 
pletion of  the  sum  by  other  donors  and  a  decision  in  favor  of 
San  Francisco  resulted.  A  strong  program  of  topics  and 
speakers  and  timely  tours  of  visitation  by  Association  leaders 
united  in  attracting  to  San  Francisco  convention  delegates, 
and  to  Oakland  a  Secretaries'  Conference  which  proved  help- 
ful and  invigorating  to  Association  work  and  workers  on  the 
Pacific  Coast. 

To  the  General  Secretary  of  the  Committee  it  gave  welcome 
opportunity  to  visit  the  Association  field  far  beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi, including  Omaha,  Denver,  Salt  Lake  City,  Sacra- 
mento, San  Francisco,  Portland,  Helena,  and  Fargo.  I  was 
also  able  to  enjoy  a  visit  to  the  Yosemite  and  to  Yellowstone 
Park. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year  1885,  for  an  interdenomina- 
tional conference  held  in  Cincinnati,  I  prepared  a  paper  upon 
the  mission,  method,  and  message  of  our  Associations,  so  far 
as  these  had  been  developed  at  that  time,  when  a  thousand 
Associations  were  in  existence  with  150,000  members  and  500 
employed  officers. 

In  printed  form  this  proved  to  be  a  substitute  for  mj'  pam- 
phlet :  *'The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  As  It  is,"  which 


ENTERING  THE  SECOND  DECADE  203 

had  been  published  in  1872  and  revised  in  successive  editions. 
It  was  published  in  the  year-book  of  1886  and  later  was  issued 
in  a  pamphlet,  subsequently  revised  like  its  predecessor.  Its 
closing  paragraph  states  that  it  was  "an  attempt  to  show  that 
by  patient  effort  and  experiment  of  many  3'ears,  the  Associa- 
tions when  occupying  suitable  buildings  and  well  officered 
proved  an  efficient  agency  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  young 
men,  physically  and  mentally,  spiritually  and  socially,  in  cities, 
schools  and  universities,  and  at  railroad  centers;  that  the  de- 
mand for  this  work  is  immensely  greater  than  the  supply  of 
either  men  or  money  for  its  prosecution ;  that  efficient  agencies, 
International  and  State,  exist  to  conserve  and  extend  this  work 
at  home  and  abroad ;  and  that  its  vital  force  and  energy  come 
from  the  irresistible  love  for  young  men  which  springs  from 
the  love  of  Him  whose  name  the  Association  bears,  for  whose 
service  it  has  been  created  and  on  whose  presence  and  blessing 
all  its  usefulness  depends." 

Supplemental  Temporary  Agents 

In  the  beginning,  when  the  Committee  had  no  employed 
officers,  more  cooperation  and  supervision  was  called  for  on 
the  Association  field  than  the  members  could  give.  This 
excess  of  demand  over  supply  continued  from  decade  to  decade, 
though  both  members  and  employed  officers  increased  in  num- 
ber and  unitedly  sought  to  answer  the  calls  upon  them.  Under 
this  pressure  much  supplemental  work  was  secured  each  year 
from  volunteers,  or  agents  who  could  give  only  temporary 
service.  Money  for  much  of  this  work  was  sought  and  found 
outside  of  the  Committee's  treasury. 

In  this  way  valuable  visitation  at  the  South  was  secured 
from  George  A.  Hall  and  Wm.  F,  Lee  in  1870,  and  from  George 
A.  Hall,  Thomas  K.  Cree,  and  Thane  Miller  in  1875,  '76,  '77. 
To  the  Convention  of  1887  was  reported  additional  help  of 
this  kind  from  fourteen  temporary  workers.  Before  the  next 
Convention  eight  had  been  secured  to  render  timely  aid  to 
Associations  which  the  regular  force  was  not  large  enough  to 
serve.  The  number  of  these  additional  helpers  varied  each  year 
from  ten  to  fifteen,  and  their  enlistment  and  the  adjustment 
of  their  service  upon  the  different  fields  of  work  was  an  inter- 
esting and  rewarding  endeavor,  especially  during  the  decade 


204  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

following  1887,  and  covering  the  first  long  absence  from  the 
country  of  Wishard  (1888-93)  and  Mott  (1895-7). 

Growth  op  Financial  Support  of  the  Committee's  Work 

Upon  donors  who  were  willing  and  able  to  provide  the  finan- 
cial support  needed  by  the  Associations,  local  work  in  city  and 
county  had  first  claim.  The  State  Work  was  near  at  hand  and 
visible  enough  to  have  next  claim  upon  those  willing  to  give 
heed  to  a  second  appeal.  The  International  Committee  was 
at  a  third  remove,  and  less  appealing,  even  to  convention  dele- 
gates who  valued  the  work  of  their  Convention's  Committee 
and  authorized  its  continuance  and  growth,  but  who  felt  con- 
strained to  condition  that  continuance  upon  the  Committee's 
procuring  the  financial  support  needed  for  it. 

Of  the  beginning  of  the  Committee's  effort  in  this  direction 
of  self-support,  and  of  its  first  parlor  conferences,  the  story 
has  already  been  told.  ^  Twenty-seven  such  conferences  had 
been  held  before  1882. 

Parlor  conferences  were  begun  in  1874  when  only  one  regular 
contribution  as  large  as  |500  was  being  received  for  the  Com- 
mittee's work.  Experience  taught  the  value  of  the  presence 
at  each  conference  of  Secretaries  of  the  Committee  who  could 
report  at  first  hand,  out  of  their  own  activity,  all  the  varied 
work.  The  impression  needed  could  be  made  only  by  those 
who  were  doing  the  work.  In  every  instance  some  prominent 
citizen  invited  the  conference  to  his  home  for  an  afternoon 
and  evening.  The  Secretaries  presented,  in  turn,  each  phase 
of  the  work  among  students,  railroad  men,  colored  and  German 
speaking  young  men,  and  other  classes.  Cooperation  was  given 
at  different  places  by  members  of  the  Committee  and  other 
friends,  who  testified  concerning  the  value  of  the  work.  Dur- 
ing the  first  four  years  over  eight  hundred  men  in  fifteen 
cities  attended  the  meetings  and  carried  to  many  more  the 
favorable  impressions  they  received.  Most  of  these  had  been 
kept  by  business  and  other  engagements  from  attending  As- 
sociation Conventions,  and  from  examining  with  care  even  the 
work  of  the  local  organization,  much  less  that  of  the  Inter- 
national Committee. 


ePp.  129-39,  151,  179,  191. 


ENTERING  THE  SECOND  DECADE  205 

No  money  was  solicited  at  the  meetings,  but  a  statement 
was  made  of  the  work,  and  of  the  economy  of  its  prosecution. 
In  each  place  some  wise  citizen — often  our  host — who  was  well 
acquainted  with  those  of  his  fellow  citizens  who  were  friendly 
to  Association  work,  afterward  gave  counsel  as  to  those  among 
the  guests  who  could  be  wisely  approached  for  help  by  inter- 
view or  letter.  These  successive  conferences  were  so  timed 
as  to  allow  of  my  following  up  each  of  them  by  getting  in 
touch  with  some  of  those  present. 

Two  principal  impressions  were  created:  (1)  The  extent, 
importance,  and  small  cost  of  the  work  entrusted  to  the  Com- 
mittee created  surprise  and  appreciation.  (2)  The  primacy 
of  the  local  work  was  emphasized.  At  every  session  the  Presi- 
dent, Secretary,  or  some  other  active  Association  worker,  while 
expressing  the  hope  that  help  would  come  to  our  Committee 
and  its  work,  invariably  added :  "However  this  may  be,  much 
more  help  than  you  will  receive  will  come  to  our  local  work 
by  your  visit."  These  conferences  suggested  to  state  and  local 
organizations  an  excellent  agency  in  promoting  their  own  work 
and  they  were  widely  used  for  this  purpose. 

Donors  and  Their  Gifts 

A  good  beginning  was  thus  made  in  securing  a  list  of  donors 
intelligently  sympathetic  with  the  Committee  and  its  Secre- 
taries. Some  were  specially  interested  in  one  department, 
and  some  in  another,  but  as  a  rule  the  gift  was  made  to  the 
work  in  its  entirety.  As  the  only  one  of  the  Committee's  staff 
who  could  attend  all  these  conferences,  I  was  responsible  for 
the  program  of  each,  as  well  as  for  the  solicitation  which 
followed.  My  associates  on  the  staff,  during  the  seventies  and 
eighties,  were  thus  released  to  give  themselves  each  more  en- 
tirely— perhaps  too  entirely — to  the  work  in  his  own  depart- 
ment. But  they  were  taught  by  example  the  method  of  financ- 
ing, and  later,  out  of  the  sense  of  need,  each  by  precept  and 
command  was  enlisted  to  carry  financial  responsibility  for  his 
own  department.  Major  Hardie  and  Captain  Lovelace,  of 
Alabama,  and  Thane  Miller,  of  Cincinnati,  attended  more  of 
the  early  conferences  than  did  any  other  members. 

During  the  first  series,  in  February  and  March,  1878,  I 
was  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  work  appealed  more 


206  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

strongly  than  I  had  expected  to  men  who  were  able  and  willing 
to  give  large  contributions.  Several  donors  were  added  to  the 
list  of  three  who  were  giving  |500  each,  among  them  Messrs. 
Vanderbilt  and  Jesup.  During  1880  the  number  on  this  list 
had  increased  to  twelve,  and  the  total  of  their  gifts  was  equal 
to  nearly  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  Committee's  expenditure 
for  that  year.  From  one  hundred  and  six  contributors  was 
received  |12,000,  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  budget  to  be  re- 
ported at  the  next  Convention.  A  select  number  of  these 
donors  became  regular  contributors,  while  a  larger  number 
were  of  the  disappearing  class.  Not  a  few  of  them  were  ignor- 
ant at  first  of  local  and  State  Work.  Those  phases  soon  began 
to  attract  their  attention.  When  giving  in  all  three  directions 
became  impracticable,  preference  was  given  to  the  work  nearer 
home.  In  this  way  some  direct  financial  benefit  in  the  end 
was  received  by  the  whole  work,  local  and  State,  as  well  as 
International.    Much  more  came  indirectly. 

During  the  early  years  I  had  started  a  small  subscription 
book,  in  which  were  entered  only  the  names  of  the  donors  of 
$500.  It  soon  occurred  to  me  that  there  were  some  who  might 
be  willing  to  give  more  than  this  amount  and  when  it  was 
suggested  to  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  that  he  increase  his  sub- 
scription to  $1,000,  he  conceded  it  was  fair  for  me  to  ask,  but 
hesitated  lest  he  might  be  left  alone  on  the  new  list — a 
result  contrary  to  my  plan.  Was  he  willing  to  join  some  one 
else?  When  to  this  query  he  gave  a  favorable  reply  and 
I  reported  this  to  James  McCormick,  of  Harrisburg,  he  con- 
sented to  begin  a  new  list  with  $1,000  in  a  second  book,  on  con- 
dition that  his  name  should  not  be  published,  and  should  be 
seen  only  by  those  who  might  be  solicited  to  join  as  donors 
of  this  larger  sum.  Vanderbilt  added  his  name,  but  expressed 
solicitude  lest,  w^hen  hard  times  came,  this  list  would  be  most 
difficult  to  maintain.  In  point  of  fact,  at  each  recurring  period 
of  financial  depression  more  trouble  was  experienced  with 
other  sections  of  the  Committee's  constituency  than  with  this. 
The  names  of  Morris  K.  Jesup,  William  E.  Dodge,  William 
Thaw,  and  later  Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  John  D.  Rockefeller, 
William  K.  Vanderbilt,  and  others  were  added.  In  1881  the 
Committee  was  able  to  carry  an  expenditure  ten  per  cent  larger 
than  that  of  the  previous  year.     The  Convention  of  1881  au- 


ENTERING  THE  SECOND  DECADE  207 

thorized  an  increase  of  another  ten  per  cent.  Eight  years  had 
now  passed  since  our  experience  at  the  Dayton  Convention, 
when  an  expenditure  of  one-sixth  of  the  sum  now  voted  could 
not  be  met.  A  path  of  endeavor  had  been  found,  along  which 
it  had  been  possible  to  secure  a  substantial  and  stable  support 
for  the  work. 

The  parlor  conferences  continued  to  be  efficient  uutil  1882, 
when  there  appeared  symptoms  of  their  wearing  out.  The 
dinner  meeting,  gradually  resorted  to  as  a  substitute,  proved 
more  effective  and  enduring.  Audiences  were  willing  to  tarry 
longer  to  listen  to  speakers  during  an  evening  session  which 
included  the  evening  meal.  In  later  years  the  luncheon  hour 
began  to  be  successfully  utilized,  not  only  for  financial  appeal, 
but  for  committee  meetings  of  every  sort. 

The  two  subscription  books  were  small  and  frail,  and  were 
begun  with  no  thought  of  their  having  a  long  life.  At  the 
end  of  ten  years  they  were  carefully  rebound,  with  fresh  pages 
added  for  use  in  the  years  to  come.  Every  subscriber  was  able 
to  read  the  record  from  the  beginning  of  the  group  of  sup- 
porters hq  was  asked  to  join.  From  year  to  year  the  pages 
carried  an  appeal  which  steadily  grew  stronger,  and  some 
donors  passed  from  the  |500  book  to  the  other,  while  the  reverse 
of  this  was  very  infrequent. 

For  nearly  ten  years  there  was  no  plea  for  a  larger  annual 
gift  than  |1,000  from  any  one  person.  Toward  the  close  of  the 
year  1889  the  annual  expenditure  on  the  home  field  had  in- 
creased to  over  150,000  and  to  this  was  added  the  cost  of  the 
first  year's  work  on  the  foreign  field.  When  the  last  of 
December  arrived  the  threat  of  a  larger  deficit  confronted  us. 
For  a  number  of  years  the  budget  had  been  so  well  provided 
for  that  during  most  of  December  and  the  early  part  of  Janu- 
ary I  had  been  able,  as  an  advisory  director  of  the  New  York 
Association,  to  render  help  to  the  Finance  Committee,  of  which 
Cornelius  Vanderbilt  was  then  chairman. 

It  was  also  my  custom,  during  each  December,  to  secure 
upon  the  two  little  books  as  many  renewals  as  possible  for 
the  coming  year,  as  this  was  a  better  time  to  do  it  than  the 
first  part  of  the  new  year.  From  more  than  one  came,  as  he 
returned  the  book,  a  check  for  the  coming  year.  This  was  a 
great  help  in  the  first  month  of  each  new  year,  during  those 


208  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

early  decades  when  without  any  endowment  the  Committee's 
treasury  was  invariably  empty  on  December  31st. 

The  trying  situation  of  the  Committee  in  December,  1889, 
demanded  unusual  effort.  One  member  of  the  Committee, 
Charles  L.  Colby,  whose  regular  subscription  was  already  re- 
corded and  paid,  entered  his  name  again  for  an  emergency  gift 
of  |1,000.  This  encouraged  me  to  send  the  book  to  another 
friend,  Jabez  Bostwick,  of  blessed  memory,  who  had  recently 
come  to  the  annual  dinner  meeting,  and  whose  name,  as  a  conse- 
quence, was  already  in  the  book  of  1889.  The  following  page, 
as  usual,  had  been  prepared  for  the  subscriptions  of  the  com- 
ing year.  The  book  was  very  i)romptly  returned  to  me  with 
name  and  check  for  the  extra  tliousand,  but  to  my  amazement 
I  found  that  Mr.  Bostwick  had  entered  his  name  for  $2,000 
on  the  page  for  1890.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  record 
in  the  book. 

After  1890  it  ceased  to  be  known  as  "the  one  thousand  dol- 
lar book,"  for  Mr.  Bostwick  was  joined  by  others.  In  1894 
the  largest  gift  was  $3,500;  in  1898,  $9,000;  and  in  1903, 
$10,000.  William  E.  Dodge  began  the  list  in  1874  with  $500. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  in  1903  he  was  giving  annually  $5,000. 
In  the  years  following  his  departure  his  son  and  daughter  far 
more  than  doubled  what  he  had  given  annually. 

From  these  donors  was  received  a  growing  percentage  of 
the  Committee's  annual  expenditure.  From  these  larger  gifts 
came  one-fifth  when  the  budget  was  less  than  $25,000.  When 
it  had  increased  to  $73,000  in  1896  the  percentage  from  the 
same  source  was  two-fifths.  In  1910,  of  a  budget  of  $301,000, 
one  half  was  received  from  the  same  source. 

Several  began  to  give  before  the  books  were  used — Mr.  Dodge 
in  1874;  Mr.  McCormick  in  1875;  Mr.  Thaw  and  Mr.  Vander- 
bilt  in  187G.  The  Moody  fund  was  $1,500  in  1876 ;  $2,000  in 
1877;  $1,500  in  1878;  $2,400  in  1879,  and  $2,100  in  1880.  John 
D.  Kockefeller  gave  $1,000  in  1884. 

In  1881— i  of  a  budget  of  $27,600  came  from  9  donors,  4  giving  $1,000 
In  1884— i  "  30,500  "         15        "       5      " 

In  1889—1  "      .  50,600  "         26        "       2       "         2,000 

In  1896— f  "  73,000  "         33        "       2       "  " 

The  great  majority  of  donors  were  absorbed — as  above  men- 
tioned— by  local  and  State  Work,  but  this  minority  continued 


ENTERING  THE  SECOND  DECADE  209 

from  year  to  year,  retaining  not  only  the  vision  and  estimate 
of  the  work,  but  both  disposition  and  ability  to  continue  and 
very  often  to  increase  their  annual  gifts. 

Other  Methods  of  Financial  Appeal 

Parallel  with  the  financial  appeals  for  the  International 
Work  made  through  (1)  the  Convention,  (2)  the  parlor  confer- 
ences, (3)  the  dinner  meeting,  (4)  correspondence,  (5)  per- 
sonal visitation,  a  sixth  was  authorized  by  the  Convention  of 
1873  and  its  successors  in  the  form  of  a  call  upon  each  of  the 
local  Associations  to  take  up  a  collection  in  aid  of  the  work 
of  the  Committee  during  the  November  week  of  prayer.  This 
was  strongly  urged  upon  the  Associations  as  an  expression  of 
their  interest  in  the  work,  and  their  responsibility  for  it.  They 
responded  with  a  steadily  increasing  contribution,  from  1875 
— when  a  total  of  |250  was  received  from  twenty  Associations 
— to  1890,  when  |7,100  was  received,  an  amount  equal  to  one- 
eighth  of  the  expenses  of  that  year. 

From  the  year  1890  there  was  a  steady  decline  in  the  amount 
received,  until  in  1896  it  was  only  one  twenty-second  of  the 
budget  expense.  While  this  experience  led  to  a  just  emphasis  on 
securing  two-fifths  of  the  Committee's  budget  from  the  larger 
contributions,  we  were  equally  obligated  to  secure  a  large  per- 
centage of  the  budget  from  other  sources.  To  this  end  a  wise, 
persistent  solicitation  was  organized,  which  carried  the  appeal 
of  this  varied  work  which  was  benefiting  an  increasing  multi- 
tude of  young  men  and  boys  to  those  who  could  give  only  small 
sums. 

The  Secretarial  Bureau  of  the  Committee  appealed  to  Asso- 
ciation employed  officers,  and  their  aid  in  an  increasing  num- 
ber of  small  gifts  was  heartily  given.  In  1892  the  tax  of 
strenuous  visitation  upon  his  strength  compelled  Thomas  Cree 
to  withdraw  from  that  important  phase  of  the  work.  He  then 
became  remarkably  efficient  in  framing,  at  the  office,  a  well 
organized  correspondence,  which  carried  to  a  growing  multi- 
tude of  givers  of  small  sums  the  effective  appeal  of  the  various 
growing  departments  of  the  Committee's  work.  By  this  quiet 
but  increasingly  valuable  service  for  fifteen  years,  he  secured 
one-tenth  of  the  financial  support  of  the  home  work  of  the 
Committee. 


210  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

By  these  and  kindred  means  the  deficiency  of  the  Day  of 
Prayer  collections  and  of  similar  sources  of  revenue  was  made 
up,  so  as  to  secure  a  steadily  increasing  number  of  contributors 
to  current  expenses.  In  1904  the  Committee  could  report  that 
"during  the  past  seven  years  the  number  of  contributors  had 
increased  from  2,000  to  nearly  G,000."  The  great  majority  of 
these  individual  gifts  averaged  much  less  than  $10  each.  The 
undiminished  emphasis  placed  from  the  beginning  on  a  wide 
solicitation  and  appeal  to  all  other  classes  of  donors,  was  one 
of  the  considerations  which  strongly  and  favorably  influenced 
the  friends  who  have  continued  their  support  by  gifts  of  large 
amount.  In  the  endeavor  to  secure  from  both  sources  the  sup- 
port needed  for  the  work,  I  discovered  later  that  I  was  blazing 
a  path  for  my  junior  associates  to  follow,  as  the  work  grew  to 
a  dimension  beyond  my  ability  to  provide  for  it. 

After  the  eighties  it  became  apparent  that  some  departments 
would  need  a  staff  equal  to  the  Committee's  entire  force  in 
the  early  years.  Before  the  nineteenth  century  ended,  the 
home  work  budget  exceeded  $125,000  and  the  foreign  work 
called  for  nearly  $40,000.  Then  John  R.  Mott  had  begun  to 
carry  responsibility  for  the  Student  and  Foreign  Work  and 
secretarial  heads  of  other  departments  were  developing  ca- 
pacity to  carry  their  own  budget.  The  appeal  for  the  support 
of  the  Railroad  Work  has  called  forth  every  year  since  its 
beginning  a  response  equal  to  the  cost  of  the  work. 


CHAPTER  XI 
FEATURES  OF  GROWTH  AND  COOPERATION 

Growing  Allegiance  to  the  Churches 

Allegiance  to  the  evangelical  churches  was  declared  in  the 
constitution  of  the  first  Association  formed  in  the  United 
States  at  Boston  in  1851.  The  great  majority  organized  in 
North  America  before  18G9  had  followed  this  precedent.  But 
when  the  International  Convention  of  that  year  made  the 
adoption  of  the  evangelical  church  test  of  active  membership 
a  condition  of  representation  for  all  Associations  organized 
after  1869,  twenty  per  cent  of  the  existing  Associations  were 
not  on  this  basis.  They  continued  entitled  to  representation. 
It  was  in  the  years  immediately  following  the  Convention  of 
1869  that  my  connection  with  the  correspondence  of  the  Com- 
mittee began.  From  not  a  few  cities  came  a  protest:  "We 
think  a  mistake  was  made  at  Portland.  Not  the  church  test 
but  the  good-moral-character  test  of  active  membership  should 
have  been  adopted.  We  are  organizing  on  that  basis."  In 
each  case  the  new  Association  was  cordially  invited  to  send 
corresponding  members  or  delegates  to  the  next  Convention, 
with  the  offer  for  them  of  right  to  the  floor  in  discussion 
and  the  entertainment  furnished  to  voting  delegates.  As  the 
years  of  experiment  and  experience  passed  by,  it  was  the 
church  basis  Associations  which  procured  the  Secretaries  who 
were  needed  to  give  their  lives  to  the  work,  the  buildings 
necessary  for  adequate  equipment,  and  also  a  membership  the 
majority  of  which  were  associate,  non-voting  members — a  class 
of  young  men  whom  it  was  one  of  the  principal  objects  of  the 
Association  to  attract  and  benefit.  This  majority — associate 
— membership  began  to  be  obtained  in  1884.  In  1914  there 
were  on  the  roll  280,000  active  and  350,000  associate  members. 
Also  about  the  year  1885  the  North  American  Associations 
had  become  practically  unanimous  in  the  adoption  of  the 
church  test  of  membership.  For  their  life  and  growth  they 
realized  their  need  of  the  close  connection  with  the  churches 
created  by  this  test.    They  had  learned  this  by  experiment  and 


212  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

experience.  For  each  Association  had  continued  free  and 
independent  in  relation  to  the  test.  Some  in  the  exercise  of 
this  freedom  had  given  it  up  and  withdrawn  from  the  brother- 
hood.   Later  by  readopting  it  they  had  resumed  fellowship. 

The  application  and  interpretation  of  the  test  had  been  left 
as  much  as  possible  to  the  local  organization.  For  the  funda- 
mental idea  of  the  Basis  was  and  is  to  get  together  in  each 
community  from  the  largest  number  of  churches  possible,  mem- 
bers who  can  agree  to  work  together  harmoniously  to  accom- 
plish the  supreme  object  of  the  Association  as  defined  by  the 
Paris  Basis.  In  the  local  application  of  the  test  to  doubtful 
cases  or  churches,  many  attempts  were  made  to  remove  ''the 
court  of  appeal"  from  the  local  neighborhood  to  the  Interna- 
tional Committee.  The  Committee  received  many  requests  for 
a  list  of  the  churches  which  were  evangelical.  But  the  Con- 
vention never  instructed  or  authorized  the  Committee  to  keep 
such  a  list.  According  to  the  wise,  ruling  of  the  chairman, 
the  answer  returned  to  each  inquiring  Association  was  that 
the  local  evangelical  pastors  and  churches  in  each  community 
who  were  already  in  fellowship  with  one  another  and  with 
the  local  Association  composed  the  court  of  appeal.  In  this 
manner  the  standing  of  the  Plymouth  Brother  or  the  Sweden- 
borgian  or  the  Christian  Scientist  or  the  Dowieite  or  the  ad- 
herent of  any  other  persuasion  was  settled  locally,  in  a  way 
to  conserve  in  each  case  the  interdenominational  comity  and 
cooperation  already  secured.  By  this  practical  method  there 
was  brought  and  kept  together  in  each  community  the  largest 
possible  number  of  fellow  churchmen  who  could  work  together 
harmoniously  for  the  fundamental  object  of  the  Association. 
They  were  not  outside  of  the  churches,  of  which  they  were  loyal 
members,  but  only  outside  of  their  divisions,  or  of  such  divid- 
ing opinions  or  convictions  as  they  could  consistently  waive, 
to  accomplish  for  Church  and  Kingdom  the  special  and  impor- 
tant work  for  young  men  that  they  had  in  hand. 

In  this  way  during  its  formative  period  the  Association 
brought  to  each  community  a.  double  appeal — first  its  broad 
fourfold  work  for  young  men  and  boys  and  then  the  churchly 
basis  upon  which  this  work  was  conducted.  This  twofold 
appeal  was  favorably  responded  to  in  each  community  by  a 
constituency  of  workers  and  supporters  equal  to  creating  a 


FEATURES  OF  GROWTH  AND  COOPERATION      213 

strong  agency  promoting  Christian  social  welfare  work  among 
young  men.  It  was  a  constituency  composed  of  churchmen  who 
enrolled  as  full  members  and  of  non-evangelicals  and  non- 
churchmen  who,  as  public  spirited  citizens,  were  generously 
willing  to  promote  a  broad  work,  the  value  of  which  to  young 
men  and  boys  they  appreciated. 

Thus  while  they  were  beginning  to  develop  their  resources 
and  their  employed  staff,  the  City  Associations — the  trunk 
of  the  whole  movement — strengthened  their  loyalty  to  the 
churches  and  prepared  to  join  the  Student  Associations  in 
loyally  promoting  during  the  next  decade  (1886-96)  the  work 
of  the  Church  on  the  foreign  mission  field.  This  was  accom- 
plished by  creating  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  and  by 
beginning  to  establish  Associations  in  non-Christian  lands, 
in  answer  to  the  call  of  the  churches  which  were  already  estab- 
lished there  and  were  urgently  asking  for  this  cooperation  in 
their  work  for  young  men  and  boys. 

Later,  in  the  growth  of  the  Boj's'  Department,  additional 
loyalty  to  the  Church  was  manifested  hj  cooperation  with  the 
Sunday  school.  In  the  growth  of  the  county,  or  rural,  Asso- 
ciations a  similar  loyalty  is  emphasized. 

Personal  Connection  tcith  the  Local  Church 

As  a  member  of  the  New  York  Presbytery  after  the  reunion 
of  old  and  new  school  in  1869,  my  connection  with  the  local 
church  was  continued  for  a  time  at  the  Brick  Church  chapel 
in  charge  of  my  classmate,  Dr.  Lampe.  When  my  sister  came 
to  live  with  me  in  the  city  (1879)  we  enjoyed  together  the 
pastoral  care  and  friendship  of  Dr.  Howard  Crosby.  After  his 
death  (1891)  and  in  connection  with  Mrs.  Morse's  active  grow- 
ing interest  in  the  work  of  our  Foreign  Mission  Board,  we 
entered  the  fellowship  of  Dr.  George  Alexander  as  friend  and 
pastor  until  the  removal  of  our  home  to  the  Harlem  district. 
Here  for  six  years  we  were  under  the  ministerial  care  in  turn 
of  two  younger  friends  and  fellow  workers,  Drs.  Maitland 
Alexander  and  Daniel  Russell.  When  we  began  to  live  in  the 
Borough  of  Brooklyn  (1904)  we  found  our  church  home  in  the 
parish  of  Dr.  L.  Mason  Clarke  and  among  many  old  family 
friends  of  Mrs.  Morse. 

These  honored  pastors  and  their  brethren  of  the  New  York 


214  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Presbytery  have  treated  with  a  kindly,  brotherly  consideration 
this  member  of  their  brotherhood,  who  has  been  so  often  and 
so  persistently  absent  from  the  pulpit  and  the  stated  church 
services.  They  have  generously  recognized  in  him  a  gift  from 
their  number  to  an  interdenominational  agency  of  the  churches 
and  have  been  willing  to  see  that  this  agency  of  loyal  church 
laymen  had  need  of  him. 

Convention  Topics  and  Discussions  of  the  Period  1871-1900 

From  its  first  appointment  (1866)  the  Committee,  in  shap- 
ing the  program  of  the  Conventions,  laid  principal  emphasis 
upon  that  fourfold  work,  the  germinal  form  of  which  was 
being  wrought  out  in  the  New  York  City  Association.  It  was 
not  until  1870  that  a  building  erected  for  the  equipment  of  this 
work  emphasized  both  its  value  and  importance. 

How  the  State  organization,  as  an  invaluable  auxiliary 
agency  of  supervision,  could  be  led  to  introduce  the  same 
emphasis  into  the  program  of  their  Convention  was  a  second 
important  problem  confronting  the  Committee.  The  only  in- 
terstate platform,  on  which  this  work,  organized  by  interna- 
tional initiative,  could  be  discussed  was  that  of  the  parent 
International  Convention. 

An  equally  necessary  topic  in  every  convention  program  was 
the  steadily  growing  work  the  Convention  was  authorizing 
its  Committee  to  carry  on.  Each  feature  had  claim  to  atten- 
tion, but  each  could  not  equally  command  it.  Strong  but  not 
conspicuous  emphasis  was  placed  upon  the  Secretarial  Bureau, 
in  which  every  member  of  the  Committee's  staff  was  par- 
ticipating. 

During  two  decades  following  1877  the  Student  and  Kail- 
road  sessions  furnished  topics  concerning  work  which  was 
always  interesting  and  making  progress  and  always  command- 
ing the  larger  audiences.  The  Student  Work  was  entering  the 
student  world.  Its  Student  Volunteer  Movement  sounded  the 
note  of  a  world-wide  propaganda,  under  the  brotherhood's 
most  capable  leader.  In  its  turn  this  North  American  Stu- 
dent Movement  heralded  and  led  a  World  Student  Christian 
Federation,  under  the  same  capable  leader,  John  R.  Mott. 

The  Railroad  Work  entered  a  strongly  contrasted  environ- 
ment— the  world  of  labor  and  capital,  of  the  employer  and 


FEATURES  OF  GROWTH  AND  COOPERATION      215 

employed.  Ultimately  as  a  form  of  Christian  welfare  work  it 
led  the  Associations  into  all  other  industrial  classes,  and  was 
called  for  in  the  lands  to  which  the  student  work  propaganda 
was  carried. 

As  the  Associations  began  to  specialize  on  Physical,  Edu- 
cational, Religious,  and  Boys'  Work,  the  delegates  authorized 
an  emphasis  by  their  Committee  upon  these  departmental  lines, 
always  provided  that  the  financial  support  in  each  instance 
could  be  secured.  In  its  turn  the  Committee  enforced  the  rule 
that  no  new  Secretary  could  be  added  to  the  staff  unless  the 
expense  involved  was  guaranteed.  This  financial  limitation 
was  too  often  an  obstruction,  which  prevented  work  which 
otherwise,  and  justly,  would  have  had  prior  claim  to  attention. 

On  each  convention  program  was  placed  a  strong  spiritual 
and  inspirational  theme,  its  message  culminating  on  the  clos- 
ing Sunday,  and  at  the  farewell  meeting  on  the  evening  of  that 
day.  In  almost  every  pulpit  in  the  morning  a  message  was 
heard  from  delegates,  at  the  request  of  pastors  and  churches, 
and  in  the  afternoon  the  evangelistic  meeting  for  young  men 
brought  a  blessing  felt  throughout  the  community. 

As  each  Convention  closed  with  this  most  desirable  emphasis 
on  what  was  supreme  in  Association  work,  so,  at  the  opening  of 
each,  at  the  first  evening  session  was  provided  a  theme  relat- 
ing to  Bible  study  and  work.  This  topic  has  an  interesting 
history,  dating  from  the  Washington  Convention  in  1871  when 
the  theme:  "God's  Word — How  can  the  Study  of  it  be  Pro- 
moted in  the  Associations,"  was  presented  by  Rev.  Henry  M. 
Parsons,  of  Boston,  followed  by  John  S.  Maclean,  of  Halifax, 
who  told  how  this  study  was  carried  on  and  prevailed  more 
among  the  Canadian  than  among  the  other  North  American 
Associations,  At  Lowell,  in  1872,  the  topic  was  treated  by 
Robert  McBurney  in  one  of  the  strongest  and  best  of  his  many 
convention  addresses.  In  1873,  at  Poughkeepsie,  the  scholarly 
teacher  of  the  remarkable  Bible  class  of  the  New  York  Associa- 
tion— William  H.  Thompson,  M.D. — captured  the  delegates, 
and  a  lively  and  impressive  discussion  followed.  At  Dayton, 
in  1874,  W.  Hind  Smith  brought  a  virile  Bible  class  message 
from  the  British  Associations,  and  the  good  influence  of  their 
exemplary  emphasis  on  the  Bible  class  was  widely  felt. 

In  1875,  at  Richmond,  James  McCormick,  of  Harrisburg, 


216  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

told  the  stimulating  story  of  the  remarkable  Bible  class  of 
which  he  was  both  teacher  and  pastor.  At  Toronto,  in  1876, 
the  British  Association  Bible  classes  were  again  impressively 
presented,  this  time  by  their  father,  founder,  teacher,  and 
exemplar,  George  Williams.  He  was  seconded  by  an  eloquent 
American  Bible  preacher  and  expositor.  Dr.  Stuart  Robinson, 
of  Louisville,  and  by  Robert  Orr,  of  Pittsburgh,  who  was  then 
the  leading  Bible  teacher  and  speaker  among  Association  Sec- 
retaries. Another  phase  of  this  many-sided  theme  was  treated 
in  1877,  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  by  Dr.  James  H.  Brookes,  of  St. 
Louis. 

The  preeminent  Bible  evangelist,  D,  L.  Moody,  gave  to  the 
Baltimore  Convention  of  1879  an  address  full  of  practical  sug- 
gestions. For  the  theme:  "The  Study  of  the  Bible  by  Books" 
we  had  been  seeking  an  adequate  treatment  for  several  Con- 
ventions. Finally  we  secured  as  the  speaker  at  Cleveland  in 
1881  Dr.  John  A.  Broadus,  eminent  both  in  the  pulpit  and 
the  professor's  chair.  So  satisfactory  was  his  discourse,  and 
the  question  and  answer  discussion  which  followed,  that  a 
little  pamphlet  containing  both  address  and  discussion  was 
at  once  issued  by  the  Committee,  and  its  circulation  gave  a 
wide  and  genuine  impulse  to  Bible  study  of  a  practical  sort. 
Unusually  attractive  and  educative  was  that  Wednesday  eve- 
ning session  at  Cleveland,  when  Dr.  Broadus  spoke  on  this 
theme.  It  has  a  just  preeminence  in  my  own  recollections  of 
this  long  series  of  Bible  sessions.  Dr.  Broadus  seemed  to  have 
the  faculty  of  taking  into  his  class  room  the  whole  Conven- 
tion of  four  hundred  delegates,  with  a  surrounding  audience 
on  the  floor  and  in  the  gallery.  He  dealt  with  us  in  a  col- 
loquial, intimate  manner,  and,  numerous  as  we  were,  we 
gathered  about  him  as  a  small  band  of  affectionate  pupils 
might  gather  about  an  attractive  and  beloved  teacher.  I 
never  imagined  that  in  his  lifelong  experience  as  a  widely 
known  and  honored  instructor,  this  convention  incident  had 
any  eminence  corresponding  to  its  rank  in  our  Bible  topic 
sessions,  but  more  than  thirty  years  afterward,  his  daughter 
told  me  that  the  memory  of  it  was  cherished  by  him  with  a 
peculiar  affection  and  appreciation. 

This  series  of  Bible  sessions  was  continued  in  1883  by  Dr. 
Philip  S.  Henson,  of  Chicago,  and  in  1885  the  saintly  Dr. 


FEATURES  OF  GROWTH  AND  COOPERATION      217 

Baldwin,  Bishop  of  Huron,  led  another  memorable  Wednesday 
evening  session.  Dr.  Herrick  Johnson,  of  McCormick  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  accompanied  us  in  1887  to  San  Francisco 
to  render  this  Bible  service.  At  Philadelphia  in  1889,  the 
teachers  were  President  Francis  L.  Patton,  of  Princeton,  and 
Russell  Sturgis,  Jr.,  of  Boston.  William  K.  Jennings,  of 
Pittsburgh,  in  1891  at  Kansas  City,  spoke  on  "Bible  Study 
Work  as  Developed  in  and  by  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association."  The  speaker  in  1893,  at  Indianapolis,  was  Pro- 
fessor Wilbert  W.  White,  then  of  Xenia  Seminary,  Ohio,  and 
now  more  widely  known  as  the  President  of  the  New  York 
Bible  Training  School.  He  was  followed  in  1895  at  Spring- 
field, Mass.,  by  President  W.  H.  P.  Faunce,  of  Brown  Uni- 
versity. 

Thus  for  twenty-six  years  the  Associations  of  North  America 
in  their  Conventions  gave  this  fitting  emphasis  to  a  devout, 
practical  Bible  study  by  their  workers.  The  wholesome,  in- 
spiring influence  of  this  emphasis  was  carried  down  each  year 
into  thirty  State  and  Provincial  Conventions,  and  was  strongly 
felt  throughout  the  brotherhood.  It  found  practical  expres- 
sion in  an  increase  of  Bible  classes  and  Bible  study  among  the 
Associations  and  in  a  steadily  growing  issuance  by  the  Com- 
mittee of  pamphlets  and  textbooks  for  Bible  study  which  are 
still  (1917)  increasing  in  volume  and  quality. 

At  the  Mobile  Convention  of  1897,  as  one  fruit  of  these  Bible 
sessions,  an  appeal  was  made  by  Fred  S.  Goodman,  then  State 
Secretary  of  New  York,  for  a  Bible  Work  International  Sec- 
retary. The  appeal  was  responded  to  by  a  call  for  subscrip- 
tions to  a  fund  for  the  employment  of  such  an  International 
Secretary.  Among  those  most  prompt  to  ofifer  a  tenth  of  the 
amount  needed,  was  Robert  McBurney^  the  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee who  from  the  beginning  was  most  active  in  promoting 
these  Bible  sessions.  This  was  the  initial  move  toward  a  new 
emphasis  by  the  International  Committee  on  the  Religious 
Work.  A  Biblical  Bureau  was  created,  of  which  Mr.  Goodman 
has  been  the  promoting  Secretary,  as  he  was  its  advocate  and 
progenitor  on  the  floor  of  the  Mobile  Convention. 

World's  Conferences  op  1881  and  1884 
The  first  two  meetings  of  the  World's  Committee  to  receive 


218  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

reports  from  its  first  Executive  Committee,  were  held  in  the 
capital  cities  of  Britain  and  Germany.  The  first  was  welcomed 
to  London  by  the  parent  Association,  in  the  thirty-seventh  year 
of  its  age,  and  was  presided  over  by  George  Williams.  The 
second  was  welcomed  by  the  first  Christlicher  Verein  Junger 
Manner  formed  in  Germany  at  Berlin.  It  was  then  an  infant 
scarcely  a  year  old  and  the  Conference  was  presided  over  by 
its  President,  Count  Andreas  von  Bernstoff,  who  was  also  a 
leader  among  the  Inner  Mission  workers  of  Germany.^  At 
London  and  Berlin  the  American  delegates  were  deeply  im- 
pressed by  recent  changes  accomplished  in  each  city  during 
the  three  years'  interval  between  the  Conferences. 

The  World  Conference  of  1881 

At  London  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  was  still  President,  and 
George  Williams  Treasurer  of  the  Association.  Shipton  had 
resigned  his  position,  after  his  protracted  and  remarkable  serv- 
ice for  over  thirty  years  in  the  London  secretaryship.  He  was 
honorably  retired,  and  provision  was  made  for  the  continued 
support  of  one  who  had  rendered  a  service  of  such  inestimable 
value  in  the  development  of  work  among  young  men  in  his 
own  and  other  lands. 

To  succeed  Shipton,  W.  Hind  Smith  had  been  chosen  by  the 
London  Committee.  His  excellent  service  as  Secretary  of  the 
Manchester  Association  and  his  warm  sympathy  with  the 
views  of  George  Williams  regarding  the  stronger  development 
of  Association  work  in  London,  gave  him  qualification  for  this 
new  position.  In  connection  with  this  change,  Shipton  had 
resigned  as  a  member  of  the  World's  Committee  and  George 
Williams  was  chosen  as  his  successor,  continuing  a  member 
until  the  close  of  his  life. 

Not  only  had  there  been  a  change  in  the  secretaryship,  but 
new  and  enlarged  equipment  for  the  Association  had  been 
secured,  George  Williams  having  led  in  soliciting  and  securing 
for  it  a  fund  of  £50,000.  He  was  himself  one  of  a  group  of 
donors  who  each  gave  £5,000.  With  this  fund  the  historic 
building  on  the  Strand,  long  known  as  "Exeter  Hall,"  was 
secured  and  furnished  with  an  equipment  more  complete  than 
any  British  Association  had  yet  obtained.    The  entire  fourfold 

»P.  183. 


FEATURES  OF  GROWTH  AND  COOPERATION      219 

work  was  not  accommodated  in  it,  but  it  registered  a  long 
advance  in  the  development  of  Association  work  in  London. 

As  one  examined  the  list  of  generous  promoters  of  this  new 
departure,  it  was  evident  that  the  enlistment  of  many  of  them 
had  been  due  to  their  previous  interest  in  the  remarkable  evan- 
gelistic work  of  Moody  and  Sankey.  The  influence  of  this  work 
was  still  so  powerfully  felt,  that  in  the  following  year  (1882) 
this  group  of  fellow  workers  were  successful  in  securing  a  re- 
turn of  Moody  to  Great  Britain  for  a  second  tour  of  evan- 
gelistic eflfort. 

To  this  Conference  the  Committee  appointed  by  its  predeces- 
sor, and  later  known  as  the  World's  Committee,  made  its  first 
report,  containing  an  encouraging  account  of  successful  effort 
to  secure  a  General  Secretary.  A  good  beginning  had  been 
made  of  a  work  of  correspondence  and  visitation.  For  the  first 
time  a  Committee  was  appointed  by  the  Conference  to  consider 
the  report  upon  a  work  which  had  been  authorized  by  a  pre- 
ceding Conference.  The  leading  and  guiding  member  of  that 
Committee  was  a  North  American  delegate,  Robert  McBurney. 
It  was  the  beginning  of  an  invaluable  service,  to  which  he  was 
reappointed  by  every  succeeding  World's  Conference  as  long 
as  he  lived.  Fifteen  years  before  this  in  the  American  Inter- 
national Convention,  he  had  been  the  proposer  and  chairman 
of  the  first  committee  that  Convention  appointed  to  report 
upon  its  Committee's  report. 

The  North  American  delegation  of  seventy-five  was  nearly 
double  the  size  of  its  predecessor  at  Geneva  three  years  before. 
The  reception  in  London,  then  accorded  us  en  route,  had  been 
very  cordial,  but  now  we  were  conference  guests  and  our  stay 
was  much  longer.  More  than  ever  before,  or  since,  the  Con- 
ference was  composed  of  English  speaking  delegates,  our  own 
delegation  and  that  of  Great  Britain  constituting  nearly  six- 
sevenths  of  those  in  attendance. 

While  the  American  papers  and  addresses  reported  a  prog- 
ress of  the  whole  work  on  our  side  of  the  Atlantic,  including 
growth  in  the  Student  and  Railroad  Departments,  chief  empha- 
sis was  placed  by  them  on  the  growth  of  the  supervisory  agen- 
cies. Seconding  this  emphasis  Thomas  Cree  spoke  for  the  In- 
ternational and  Samuel  A.  Taggart,  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
George  A.  Hall,  of  New  York,  for  the  State  supervision.    There 


220  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

were  then  twenty-one  such  supervisory  Secretaries  at  work  in 
North  America.  The  practical  impression  made  on  the  floor 
of  the  Conference  was  so  urgent  that  under  suggestion  from 
the  President,  George  Williams,  and  led  by  him,  contributions 
amounting  to  £700  were  offered  toward  providing  a  similar 
national  supervision  for  the  British  Associations.  As  a  result 
during  the  following  year  the  English  National  Council  was 
formed  and  William  H.  Mills  was  chosen  National  Secretary, 
in  which  oflQce  he  served  acceptably  until  his  death  in  1910. 
Under  his  leadership  the  work  of  this  Council  was  developed 
and  a  British  Committee  was  constituted,  so  related  to  the 
Associations  of  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  Whales,  as  to  arrange 
for  British  Conferences  and  "to  transact  all  business  which 
concerns  the  British  Associations  as  a  whole." 

Cordial  hospitality  and  entertainment  were  offered  to  the 
delegates.  One  evening  the  Lord  Mayor  and  Lady  Mayoress  re- 
ceived us  formally  at  the  Mansion  House,  supported  by  Lord 
Shaftesbury.  After  a  formal  introduction  the  delegates  passed 
into  the  Egyptian  Hall,  where  addresses  of  welcome  were  re- 
sponded to  on  behalf  of  the  delegates,  and  I  was  asked  to  speak 
for  the  American  and  Canadian  section.  Then  parlors  and  hall 
were  thrown  open  for  social  intercourse,  the  dignitaries  present 
showing  a  cordial  courtesy.  The  excursion  day  of  the  Confer- 
ence was  spent  at  the  country  seat  of  Hon.  Samuel  Morley.  In 
a  visit  to  the  House  of  Commons  a  small  group  of  delegates 
were  introduced  by  Shipton  to  Sir  John  Kennaway,  who  for 
many  years  had  been  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
Kecently  he  had  made  a  tour  through  the  United  States  and 
published  a  volume  upon  his  transatlantic  travels.  At  his  in- 
vitation a  few  of  us  were  the  guests  of  Lady  Kennaway  and 
himself  at  Escot,  his  estate  of  some  five  thousand  acres,  beau- 
tifully situated  near  Exeter  and  the  scene  upon  which  Thack- 
eray placed  many  incidents  of  his  story  of  Pendennis.  We 
tarried  over  Sunday,  attending  service  in  the  little  chapel 
where  the  people  living  or  employed  on  the  estate  worshiped. 
In  subsequent  visits  to  London  Sir  John's  continued  courtesy 
was  cordially  appreciated. 

The  World  Conference  of  1884 
Between  the  Conference  at  London  in  1881  and  that  at  Berlin 


FEATURES  OP  GROWTH  AND  COOPERATION      221 

in  1884,  there  was  formed  in  the  latter  city  as  already  men- 
tioned,2  the  Christlicher  Verein  Junger  Manner,  which  was  the 
youthful  host  of  the  Berlin  Conference.  Among  the  forty-six 
American  delegates  was  General  O.  O.  Howard,  under  whose 
command  in  the  Civil  War  Frederick  von  Schluembach,  an- 
other American  delegate,  had  served.  The  attendance  from 
Germany  and  other  continental  countries  greatly  out-num- 
bered those  speaking  English. 

We  were  gracefully  welcomed  in  three  languages  by  Count 
Bernstoff.  The  object  lesson  of  the  broad,  well  organized  work 
of  the  Berlin  Association  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the 
delegates  from  all  lands.  Over  one  hundred  more  Associations 
were  represented  by  delegates  than  at  any  previous  World's 
Conference.  In  this  capital  city  they  were  received  and  enter- 
tained by  an  Association  occupying  a  large  building  on  a 
principal  thoroughfare,  with  a  broader  and  more  diversified 
Association  work  for  young  men  than  was  at  that  time  to  be 
found  in  any  other  city  of  the  continent.  It  was  only  a  year 
old  and  was  on  the  way  to  acquire,  in  a  few  years,  a  building 
of  its  own,  valued  at  a  million  marks  (|250,000).  Its  Presi- 
dent and  his  associates  were  men  of  rank  and  influence,  inter- 
ested in  Christian  work  for  men  of  all  classes  in  the  com- 
munity. Its  General  Secretary,  Christian  Phildius,  was  a 
Christian  worker  and  leader  of  rare  capacity.  After  he  had 
taken  me  through  the  Association  building,  and  explained  the 
varied  work  carried  on  in  it,  we  returned  to  his  office,  where 
I  expressed  surprise  at  what  we  had  seen.  In  reply  he  pulled 
out  a  small  drawer  in  his  desk  which  contained  copies  of  our 
secretarial  pamphlets,  setting  forth  the  nature  and  methods 
of  our  work  and  of  the  General  Secretary's  responsible  rela- 
tion to  both  work  and  workers.  These  had  made  him  ac- 
quainted with  the  work  which  he  had  sought  to  develop.  Be- 
fore we  left  Berlin,  Phildius  accepted  an  invitation  to  come  to 
America,  as  the  guest  of  our  Secretaries,  to  attend  the  Con- 
vention and  the  Secretaries'  Conference  of  the  following  year 
(1885). 

The  Conference  had  been  invited  to  Berlin  under  the  wise 
leadership  of  the  World's  Committee.  This  Committee  in  its 
second  triennial  report  stated  that  for  the  six  years  of  its 

« Pp.  183,  200. 


222  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

service  it  had  been  making  "a  rapid  tour  of  exploration  through 
many  lands,"  including  tho  United  States  and  Canada,  and 
"now  we  must  take  up  certain  countries  one  after  another 
with  patience,  until  a  National  Committee  is  formed  in  each 
of  these  countries.  Extension  has  been  the  program.  Con- 
centration must  now  be  emphasized."  This  change  was  ap- 
proved by  the  Conference  through  the  report  of  its  delegates' 
committee,  on  which  McBurney  served. 

The  Conference  also  instructed  its  Committee  to  hold,  dur- 
ing intervals  between  Conferences,  as  full  a  meeting  as  possible 
of  the  entire  membership  of  the  World's  Committee,  and  to 
secure,  if  practicable,  a  second  Secretary  as  an  associate  of 
Fermaud.  Such  an  associate,  American  experience  suggested, 
should  be  a  man  who  had  had  experience  in  City  Association 
work. 

In  the  year  following  the  London  and  Berlin  Conferences, 
as  already  mentioned,  the  Association  Secretaries  of  the  two 
cities,  E.  J.  Kennedy  and  Christian  Phildius,  were  guests  of 
our  Secretaries'  Conferences  at  Chattanooga  and  of  the  Inter- 
national Convention  at  Atlanta. 

Tourist  Experiences 

This  was  my  first  trip  abroad  with  Mrs.  Morse.  It  was  the 
beginning  of  a  series  of  journeys  together  to  many  lands  and 
in  many  parts  of  the  world.  This  tour  included  visits  to  Lou- 
don, Paris,  Dresden,  Berlin,  Brussels,  Antwerp,  Cologne,  up 
the  Rhine,  Weisbaden,  Heidelberg,  Wittenberg,  Nuremberg,  and 
Munich.  At  Wittenberg  we  attended  service  in  the  church  to 
the  doors  of  which  Luther  nailed  his  theses,  and  near  the  spot 
where  he  burned  the  Pope's  bull. 

This  summer  a  bill  extending  the  franchise  in  Great  Britain 
and  introduced  into  the  House  of  Commons  by  the  premier, 
William  E.  Gladstone,  had  been  passed  by  that  House,  and 
during  our  stay  in  London  it  was  to  be  voted  upon,  and  un- 
doubtedly rejected  by  the  House  of  Lords,  under  the  leadership 
of  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury.  An  opportunity  to  witness  a 
large  and  exciting  session  of  this  Upper  House  was  gladly  im- 
proved.2 


^  Extract  from  a  family  letter. 


FEATURES  OF  GROWTH  AND  COOPERATION      223 

"The  house  was  crowded  with  peers,  an  unusual  event  we 
were  told.  Some  from  the  couutrj-  who  had  been  summoned, 
w'ere  certainly  in  rustic  costumes.  Early  in  the  session  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  afterward  King  Edward  VII,  entered  and 
was  joined  by  the  Duke  of  Cambridge  upon  the  cross  benches 
assigned  to  the  royal  family.  Lord  Wemyss  made,  for  the 
Government,  the  motion  toward  conciliation  and  concert  of 
action  with  the  Commons.  This  was  favored  by  the  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury,  Duke  of  Somerset,  and  Earl  of  Aberdeen  and 
opposed  by  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  and  Earls  Cadogan  and  Dun- 
raven.  Then  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury  rose  to  give  the  finish- 
ing blow.  The  House  had  grown  thin,  but  now  members  began 
crowding  in  from  the  lobbies.  The  benches  where  the  Con- 
servatives were  seated  soon  overflowed,  and  the  space  above 
the  throne  was  packed.  Salisbury's  speech  was  a  severe  and 
harsh  arraignment  of  Gladstone  and  the  Liberals.  Earl  Gran- 
ville, the  leader  of  the  Liberals  in  the  upper  House,  and  of  the 
Government,  then  rose  to  say  a  last  word  for  the  ministry, 
and  for  accord  with  the  Commons.  It  was  a  plucky  speech. 
Facing  Salisbury  and  his  enormous  majority,  he  told  him 
frankly  that  he  was  not  really  in  favor  of  extending  the 
franchise,  as  he  had  just  professed  to  be.  He  said  this  so 
plainly  and  positively  that  from  the  whole  crowd  of  the  opposi- 
tion came  an  indignant  protest,  as  they  cried  out :  'Withdraw, 
withdraw.'  The  Earl  sat  down  until  they  were  quiet,  and  then 
undauntedly  refused  to  withdraw,  and  gave  such  reasons  for 
refusal  that  now  no  voice  of  protest  was  heard.  Then  he  pro- 
ceeded, facing  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  the  opposition,  to  ex- 
press his  high  valuation  of  the  House  of  Peers,  and  his  con- 
viction that  it  could  easily  preserve  the  respect  of  the  English 
people,  but  that  it  could  as  easily,  under  unwise  leadership, 
lose  their  respect  and  with  it,  all  opportunity  for  the  good 
influence  it  might  exert.  It  was  very  impressive  to  hear  such 
words  in  such  a  presence.  The  division  followed,  the  two 
parallel  lines  of  voters  in  the  act  of  voting  passing  out  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  House.  The  opposition  had  a  majority 
of  fifty,  not  a  very  large  one.  All  the  bishops,  in  their  robes, 
with  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  lined  up  and  passed  out 
with  the  minority,  the  only  exception  being  the  Bishop  of 
Gloucester,  the  scholarly  Dr.  Ellicott. 

A  few  days  afterward  our  friend  Sir  John  Kennaway  invited 
us  to  a  breakfast  at  his  home  in  London.  He  and  another  mem- 
ber discussed  with  us  the  recent  action  of  the  Peers  and  some 
interesting  inquiries  were  made  leading  to  comparisons  be- 
tween the  composition,  character,  and  constitutional  standing 
of  the  British  Upper  House  and  the  United  States  Senate. 
These  comparisons  seemed  to  me  to  be  somewhat  to  the  credit 
of  our  Upper  House. 


224  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Later  that  day,  Sir  John  took  us  through  the  Carlton  Club 
and  the  Athenaeum,  the  latter  the  resort  of  literary  and  pro- 
fessional men.  In  the  beautiful  library  of  the  Athenaeum  we 
were  introduced  to  Bishop  Ellicott,  who  was  both  cordial  and 
jocose.  When  I  alluded  to  the  recent  discussion  in  the  House 
of  Peers,  he  referred  to  his  being  the  only  bishop  who  voted 
with  the  majority  and  added :  'When  we  were  passing  out,  one 
of  the  peers  in  advance  of  me,  glancing  at  the  flock  of  bishops 
going  out  on  the  other  side  said,  "There  go  all  the  sheep  on  that 
side,  so  I  suppose  we  are  to  be  counted  as  goats."  "No,  my 
Lord,"  I  said,  "here  is  one  poor  lost  sheep  going  out  with  you !"  ' 
As  we  parted  I  thanked  him  for  the  benefit  which,  as  a  semi- 
nary student,  I  had  derived  from  the  study  of  his  excellent 
commentaries. 

Sir  John  then  took  us  to  the  House  of  Lords,  where  we  were 
introduced  to  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  who  pointed  out  to  us 
some  of  the  more  interesting  pictures  in  various  rooms.  In  the 
library  of  the  House  we  met  the  librarian,  who,  at  the  Earl's 
suggestion,  showed  to  us  the  death  warrant  of  King  Charles  I. 
It  was  quite  a  small  document  carefully  framed,  and  was 
taken  from  the  drawer  where  it  is  kept.  On  it  were  the  sig- 
natures of  Cromwell,  Ireton,  Gofif,  Whalley,  Dixwell,  and  the 
other  judges  or  'regicides,'  as  they  have  been  termed  by  way 
of  a  distinction,  which  some  have  thought  honorable  and  others 
have  deemed  discreditable.  In  the  evening  we  dined  with  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  George  Williams — a  delightful  experience  of  English 
home  life." 

The  Topic  Party 
1876-1891 

A  quiet  agency  of  unobtrusive  but  strong  and  wide  influence 
existed  for  over  fifteen  years,  between  1876  and  1891,  under  the 
name  of  "The  Topic  Party."  Each  year  it  occupied,  delight- 
fully as  well  as  profitably,  a  week  or  more  of  the  time  of  those 
who  had  the  privilege  of  belonging  to  it. 

In  the  New  York  Association  building,  from  the  time  of  its 
occupation  by  the  Association  in  December,  1869,  one  daily 
and  two  mid-week  prayer  meetings  were  held.  One  of  the 
many  joint  labors  in  which,  from  the  beginning,  McBurney 
and  I  were  engaged,  was  the  preparation  of  a  leaflet  contain- 
ing fifty-two  topics  for  the  Thursday  evening  meetings  in  the 
Twenty-third  Street  building.  After  a  few  years  we  also  pre- 
pared a  similar  leaflet  for  the  Saturday  evening  meetings.  To 
prepare  three  hundred  topics  for  the  daily  meetings  was  an 


FEATURES  OP  GROWTH  AND  COOPERATION      225 

undertaking  involving  more  time  than  for  some  years  we  could 
give,  but  the  two  sets,  of  fift3-two  topics  each,  proved  of  such 
service  that  they  emphasized  the  greater  need  of  similar  help 
for  the  daily  meetings.  These  leaflets  were  not  used  by  the  New 
York  Association  only;  they  gained  a  growing  circulation 
throughout  the  brotherhood.  Pastors  and  churches  also  were 
using  them,  and  increased  the  demand  for  the  larger  pub- 
lication. 

In  the  autumn  of  1876  we  agreed  to  go  into  retirement,  in 
the  suburbs  of  New  York,  and  with  a  few  helpers  spend  a  week 
in  preparing  topics  for  three  hundred  daily  meetings.  This 
was  the  begiuuing  of  a  series  of  annual  conferences.  To  all 
of  us  these  proved  a  pleasant  separation  from  other  employ- 
ment for  a  season  of  arduous  interesting  endeavor,  agreeable 
companionship,  and  Bible  work.  The  variety  in  places  of  meet- 
ing and  in  the  personnel  of  the  party  added  to  the  interest. 

One  year  we  went  to  Bay  Shore,  Long  Island.  Another  sea- 
son we  were  guests  of  my  sister,  Mrs.  Samuel  Colgate,  in 
Orange,  N.  J.,  and  another  year  of  my  sister,  Mrs.  Edward 
Austen,  in  her  home  on  Filston  Farm  near  Baltimore.  Finally 
we  settled  on  the  Laurel  House  at  Lakewood,  N.  J.,  as  the  place 
best  suited  in  every  way  for  our  use. 

The  members  invariably  present  were  McBurney,  Kobert 
Orr,  of  Pittsburgh,  who  was  preeminent  in  Bible  Class  work, 
and  myself ;  the  others  varied  from  year  to  year.  Among  these 
were  a  few  ladies,  who  were  of  great  assistance  in  the  work. 
These  included  Mrs.  Morse,  my  sister  Rebecca,  her  friend  Miss 
Kate  Sturges,  and  Mrs.  Morse's  mother  and  sister.  Among 
the  Secretaries  more  or  less  regularly  in  attendance  were 
Thomas  Cree — always  welcome,  not  only  for  the  hard  work 
that  he  did,  but  even  more  because  of  the  brightness  and 
humor  that  he  contributed. 

Robert  McBurney  was  called,  and  was  in  fact  the  "Boss" 
of  the  party.  He  ruled  us  iu  a  masterly  way,  beginning  and 
closing  each  of  the  three  daily  sessions  on  time,  insisting  on 
morning  and  afternoon  walks  for  exercise,  assigning  the  topics 
to  the  different  pairs  of  workers,  and  in  every  way  showing 
himself  to  be  an  autocrat ! 

During  the  year,  the  members  of  the  party  were  on  the  look- 
out for  good  subjects  or  topics  which  could  be  "worked  up." 


226  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

The  various  books  of  the  Bible  were  assigned  each  year  to  some 
forty  or  fifty  well  selected  Bible  students,  with  a  request  that 
each  read  the  portion  assigned  him,  make  note  of  the  para- 
graphs most  appropriate  for  use  in  a  prayer  meeting,  state  a 
subject  for  each  paragraph  in  the  form  of  a  topic,  and  send 
it  to  the  International  ofiice.  At  the  outset  each  year  the 
party  was  divided  into  pairs  of  workers  and  the  topics  secured 
were  distributed  among  these  pairs.  Robert  Orr  and  I  were 
invariably  assigned  to  work  together.  Some  topics  were  so 
good  they  were  accepted  without  change,  others  were  rejected, 
and  still  others  so  revised  that  they  were  beyond  recognition 
by  their  authors.  After  each  topic  pamphlet  was  printed,  it 
was  often  difficult  in  the  following  year  to  jjersuade  some  good 
Bible  student,  whose  topics  had  been  thus  treated,  to  try 
again!  As  each  pair  of  workers  finished  with  a  set  of  topics, 
these  were  turned  over  to  McBurney  to  be  accepted.  This  he 
often  failed  to  do !  A  trunkful  of  concordances,  various  trans- 
lations of  the  Bible,  and  other  helps  was  taken  for  the  use  of 
the  workers. 

Each  topic  was  based  upon  one  or  more  passages  from  the 
Bible,  and  it  was  necessary  to  avoid  too  much  repetition  of 
favorite  passages.  As  a  valuable  help  in  this  direction,  Mrs. 
Morse  secured  a  Bible  of  good  size  and  large  type.  This  was 
rebound  in  two  volumes  and  fully  interleaved.  On  its  pages, 
with  the  help  of  her  sister,  she  marked  in  red  ink,  when  and 
where  the  verses  so  indicated  already  had  been  made  use  of 
in  topics.  This  marked  Bible  was  taken  to  the  next  meeting, 
and  whenever  a  verse  was  again  used,  note  of  it  was  made  in 
the  Book.  These  two  volumes  thus  annotated  quickly  gave  the 
knowledge  of  what  portions  from  year  to  year  had  not  been 
used,  as  well  as  of  those  most  frequently,  or  too  frequently 
selected.  This  helped  to  secure  additional  variety  in  the  choice 
of  Bible  paragraphs.  The  members  of  "The  Topic  Party" 
never  tired  of  telling  of  the  pleasant,  profitable,  and  amusing 
incidents,  and  the  good  time  generally,  that  they  enjoyed  to- 
gether during  these  strenuous  days  of  retirement. 

For  twenty-two  years  successive  Conventions — 1877-1893 — 
voted  their  thanks,  and  authorized  the  continued  publication 
of  these  topics.  Meanwhile  gradually  so  many  other  similar 
sets  of  topics  were  being  published  that  the  Committee  and  the 


FEATURES  OF  GROWTH  AND  COOPERATION      227 

Convention  deemed  it  unnecessary  to  continue  the  preparation 
and  issuance  of  the  pamphlet. 

One  unfailing  incident  of  the  "Topic  Party"  is  worthy  of 
special  mention.  The  Secretary-Treasurer  of  the  Secretaries' 
Conference  invariably  accepted  an  invitation  to  join  the  party, 
not  only  as  a  worker  but  also  because  he  there  secured  the  time 
needed  for  consultation  as  to  the  program  for  the  next  meeting 
of  the  conference.  These  consultations  with  members  of  each 
"Topic  Party"  thus  gave  a  strong  shaping  influence  to  the 
topics  and  program  of  each  succeeding  annual  meeting  of 
the  Secretaries'  Association. 

Connection  with  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 

1879-1883 

Soon  after  becoming  connected  with  the  International  Com- 
mittee, my  attention  was  first  called  to  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  of  the  city,  by  learning  that  while  our 
Association  had  been  given  an  ample  building  by  generous 
friends,  the  Association  of  young  women  was  poorly  accom- 
modated in  a  small  building  which  they  had  rented  on  Irving 
Place.  McBurney,  James  Stokes,  Morris  K.  Jesup,  and  other 
directors  of  our  city  Association  were  members  of  an  Advisory 
Committee  of  this  organization.  With  their  cooperation  a 
movement  was  soon  begun  on  behalf  of  the  young  women, 
which  resulted  in  securing  for  them  an  excellent  building  on 
West  Fifteenth  Street. 

To  complete  the  equipment  thus  begun,  they  needed  to  erect 
in  the  rear  of  the  structure  a  commodious  hall.  In  aid  of  this 
undertaking  a  Fair  was  opened  during  May,  1876,  in  the 
spacious  Academy  of  Music.  By  the  exertion  and  cooperation 
of  many  friends  this  proved  successful.  I  was  glad  to  comply 
with  the  request  of  the  president,  and  edit  a  paper — The  May- 
flower— for  circulation  at  the  Fair  as  the  best  service  it  was 
in  my  power  to  render  the  cause  at  this  time. 

The  first  of  the  City  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations 
was  formed  in  Boston  in  1866.  The  movement  was  gradually 
extended  to  other  cities,  usually  bearing  the  name  of  Women's 
Christian  Associations.  Of  our  own  leaders,  the  one  most 
actively  identified  with  the  work  and  extension  of  these  kindred 
societies  was  Thane  Miller,  of  Cincinnati.     He  had  suggested 


228  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

and  taken  part  in  the  organization  of  several  in  western  cities, 
and  Mrs.  Miller  was  a  leader  in  the  organization  in  Cincinnati, 
and  also  in  their  Convention,  where  Mr.  Miller  had  been  a 
warmly  welcomed  guest.  He  had  become  convinced  that  it 
would  be  of  value  and  benefit  to  them  to  appoint  and  locate 
a  Central  Committee,  corresponding  to  our  own  International 
Committee,  with  an  employed  officer  giving  her  whole  time  to 
the  work  of  supervision  and  extension. 

On  his  way  to  their  Convention  of  1875,  which  was  to  meet 
in  Pittsburgh,  he  stopped  at  our  oflBce  in  iSew  York  and  en- 
listed the  sympathy  of  McBurney  and  myself.  He  asked  for 
our  cooperation  and,  as  a  member  of  our  Committee,  urged 
that  I  be  allowed  to  go  on  with  him  to  Pittsburgh  to  make  a 
statement  to  the  delegates  of  the  advantages  resulting  to  our 
brotherhood  from  the  work  of  our  Committee.  He  believed 
such  cooperation  would  be  welcomed  and  his  own  experience 
seeming  to  justify  this  expectation,  the  Committee  consented 
to  my  going. 

On  our  way  we  met  in  the  train  and  took  counsel  with  one 
of  the  delegates,  Mrs.  Terhune,  then  President  of  the  Newark, 
N.  J.,  Association  and  widely  known  as  an  author  under  the 
name  of  Marion  Harland.  The  suggestion  of  Mr.  Miller  seemed 
to  her  an  excellent  one.  I  was  present  only  at  the  opening 
session,  where  I  made  as  good  a  plea  as  I  could,  leaving  Mr. 
Miller  to  complete  our  errand.  But  he  was  disappointed  in 
accomplishing  his  purpose,  and  we  learned  afterward  that,  for 
reasons  we  did  not  conjecture  and  were  not  forewarned  about, 
the  proposal  was  premature  and  unacceptable.  Some  years 
afterward  I  began  to  be  more  helpful  to  this  sisterhood,  through 
the  agency  of  my  younger  sister. 

Family  Ties  and  a  Family  Letter  League 

We  were  a  family  of  ten  children,  nine  of  whom  at  this  time 
were  living.  Four  sisters,  older  than  I,  were  married  and  in 
homes  of  their  own.  One  of  my  three  brothers  was  older  and 
two  were  younger  than  myself,  as  was  the  youngest  sister 
Rebecca. 

In  1881,  at  the  suggestion  of  my  youngest  brother,  Oliver, 
then  General  Secretary  of  the  Cleveland  Association,  v/e  formed 
a  family  monthly  letter  league,  of  which  he  became,  and  ever 


FEATURES  OF  GROWTH  AND  COOPERATION      229 

since  has  continued  the  efficient  secretary.  Each  member  of 
the  family  wrote  a  letter  at  the  beginning  of  each  month  and 
these  were  passed  around  to  all  by  a  circulating  arrangement. 
The  league  has  continued,  without  a  break,  for  thirty-six  years, 
proving  an  excellent  bond  of  family  fellowship.  As  the  older 
brother  and  two  older  sisters  have  passed  away,  their  places 
in  the  league  have  been  taken  by  wife  or  husband  or  sons,  who 
continue  to  represent  each  his  or  her  branch  of  the  family. 

For  the  first  twenty  years  the  secretary  was  the  faithful 
custodian  of  these  letters,  after  they  had  been  passed  round 
the  circle,  and  at  the  end  of  this  period  he  returned  them  to 
their  respective  writers.  Upon  binding  mine  in  a  volume  they 
proved  so  useful,  that  ever  since  I  have  found  it  worth  while 
to  preserve  and  bind  those  of  succeeding  years,  and  in  writing 
this  narrative  they  have  been  of  great  service. 

Rebecca  Finley  Morse 

Between  my  sister  Rebecca,  two  years  younger  than  I,  and 
myself,  there  was  from  our  childhood  a  peculiarly  strong  sym- 
pathy. From  the  beginning  of  my  connection  with  religious 
journalism  and  later  with  the  Association  and  the  Interna- 
tional Committee,  more  than  any  other  member  of  the  family 
she  seemed  to  enter  into  and  appreciate  the  considerations  that 
had  weighed  with  me  in  each  successive  decision  and  in  the 
final  conclusion  concerning  the  General  Secretaryship. 

Her  active  interest  in  Christian  work  began  with  faithful 
service  as  a  Sunday  school  Bible  teacher  of  exceptional  ability, 
leading  the  members  of  her  class  one  by  one  into  the  Christian 
life  and  Church.  In  connection  with  the  Moody  Hippodrome 
meetings  in  New  York  in  1876,  at  the  Northfield  General 
Conferences  called  together  by  Moody  from  1877  to  1885, 
in  the  gospel  temperance  work  growing  out  of  Moody's  work 
in  New  York,  and  in  theater  and  Cooper  Institute  meetings 
we  were  fellow  workers  in  the  inquiry  room. 

In  1878  she  accompanied  me  to  Geneva,  Switzerland,  where 
the  World's  Conference  of  that  year  was  held,  and  there  she 
tarried  with  one  of  our  nieces  for  the  following  year.  Soon 
after  her  return,  her  plans  had  matured  to  transfer  her  resi- 
dence from  the  home  of  one  of  her  sisters  in  Orange,  N.  J., 
to  New  York,  where  with  an  elder  friend  and  associate  in 


230  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Christian  work — Miss  Katherine  Sturges — she  was  ready  to 
keep  house  for  me.  Here  in  the  city  she  could  be  useful  in 
the  forms  of  Christian  work  in  which  she  was  most  interested, 
and  with  some  of  which  my  fellow  workers  in  the  New  York 
Association  and  I  were  identified.  In  this  home,  very  near 
the  Association  building  we  passed  four  years — 1879-1884 — 
the  last  year  being  the  first  of  my  married  life. 

My  sister  soon  joined  a  group  of  Working  Girls'  Clubs 
located  in  various  parts  of  the  city.  Miss  Grace  H.  Dodge 
was  the  leader  in  this  organization.  Some  religious  work  was 
carried  on  in  connection  with  each  group,  according  to  the 
disposition  of  its  leader.  My  sister  formed  one  of  these  clubs 
in  the  city  below  Fourteenth  Street,  and  became  deeply  in- 
terested in  the  working  girls  with  whom  she  became  helpfully 
acquainted. 

When  disastrous  fires  in  Michigan  created  a  calamitous 
situation  of  great  suffering,  she  was  actively  connected  with 
the  movement  for  the  relief  of  the  sufferers,  and,  on  behalf  of 
the  friends  who  were  interested,  went  out  to  that  state  and 
visited  the  most  needy  district  to  aid  in  administering  the 
support  and  help  that  had  been  ofl'ered. 

Gradually  the  work  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation began  to  enlist  her  sympathy  and  cooperation,  beyond 
any  other  form  of  Christian  effort  with  which  she  was  identified. 
The  Associations  then  bearing  the  name  were  not  all  united 
in  one  organization  and  fellowship.  The  older  group  was  not 
upon  the  same  basis  of  membership  as  the  younger  group, 
which  had  begun  as  Student  Associations  in  coeducational  col- 
leges and  universities,  and  in  such  relation  to  the  Y^oung  Men's 
Christian  Association  in  these  institutions  that  they  had 
adopted  the  evangelical  church  test  of  membership.  It  was 
with  this  latter  group  that  my  sister  became  identified,  as  it  ex- 
tended its  organization  and  work  into  cities  where  working 
girls  became  a  strong  element  in  the  membership. 

Of  the  City  Association  formed  in  Harlem  in  1891,  she  was 
one  of  the  organizers.  As  the  work  developed  and  a  New  York 
State  Convention  was  formed,  she  was  chosen  chairman  of  its 
State  Committee.  In  the  National  Convention  and  its  Com- 
mittee, and  later  in  the  World's  Conference  and  its  Committee, 
especially  in  its  foreign  work,  she  was  an  active  leader.     It 


FEATURES  OF  GROWTH  AND  COOPERATION      231 

was  through  her  agency  as  au  American  member  of  the  World's 
Committee,  that  the  first  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion Secretaries  were  sent  out  to  the  foreign  mission  field.  For 
their  support,  from  the  beginning,  she  became  responsible, 
and  her  memory  is  gratefully  cherished  among  the  workers  on 
that  field. 

In  the  history  of  the  Movement  recently  published^  it  is 
said  of  her:  "Up  to  that  time  (1899)  she  had  been  in  herself 
the  whole  foreign  department,  but  now  she  was  to  associate 
other  ladies  with  her  to  help  in  securing,  equipping,  and  main- 
taining American  Secretaries  whom  the  World's  Association 
would  appoint  to  the  various  fields.  Miss  Morse's  own  best 
remembered  presentation  was  at  the  Nashville  Convention  of 
1901  when  she  closed  an  address  crammed  with  information 
with  this  inquiry: 

*If  our  Association  fills  a  place  of  need  here,  as  a  part  of 
church  work  which  cannot  be  done  within  church  w^alls,  if  it 
is  needed  to  develop  a  Christian  womanhood  in  this  Christian 
land,  to  convict  nominal  Christian  women,  and  awaken  them 
to  their  responsibility  for  their  sisters  here,  what  shall  we  say 
of  the  need  of  the  women  in  India  and  China?  Is  there  less 
need  of  the  Association  work  for  them?'  She  held  in  her  hand 
that  day  the  document  signed  by  women  of  every  influential 
class  in  the  city  of  Shanghai  begging  the  American  Committee 
for  an  Association  there.  Miss  Morse's  memorial  stands  in 
Lahore,  India,  where  Morse  Hall  houses  a  good  general  work, 
a  fine  educational  department,  and  an  ample  dormitory." 

Our  sj'mpathy  with  one  another  deepened  during  these  many 
years  of  active  interest  in  a  growing  work,  the  methods  and 
problems  of  which,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  were  closely 
allied. 

She  took  an  active  part  in  protracted  efifort  by  the  leaders 
of  both  branches  of  the  Young  Women's  Movement  to  promote^ 
the  union  of  both  which  the}'  ardently  desired.  During  these 
efforts  she  wrote  a  history  of  the  Young  Women's  Movement, 
with  which  she  was  identified.  She  did  not  live  to  see  the 
union  finally  and  happily  achieved  through  the  strong,  com- 
manding leadership  of  her  friend  Miss  Grace  Dodge,  for  her 


*  "Fifty  Years  of  Association  Work  among  Young  Women,"  pp.  188-9. 
»Pp.  459-60. 


232  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

life  on  earth  closed  in  September,  1903,  three  years  before  the 
union  was  consummated  for  which  she  had  so  earnestly  prayed 
and  labored.  Her  memory  is  cherished  throughout  the  sister- 
hood, and  the  inspiration  of  her  example  as  a  Christian  leader 
and  worker  has  been  widely  felt  among  them. 


CHAPTER  XII 
WORLD'S  COMMITTEE  AND  CONFERENCES         » 

World's  Committee  Meeting  of  1886 

The  World's  Conference  of  1884  voted  to  make  the  interval 
between  its  meetings  four  years,  and  instructed  its  Committee 
at  Geneva  to  hold,  during  this  interval,  a  meeting  of  all  its 
members.  The  Committee  was  also  instructed  to  concentrate 
attention  on  selected  portions  of  the  broad  field  its  visitation 
had  hitherto  covered.  Upon  this  concentration  the  Committee 
was  to  deliberate  at  its  "plenar"  or  full  meeting,  at  Geneva  in 
August,  .1886. 

I  had  not  expected  to  cross  the  Atlantic  until  the  Conference 
of  1888.  But  the  solicitation  for  my  attendance  became  very 
urgent  and  it  was  intimated  that  if  I  would  promise  to  make 
the  journey,  it  would  insure  the  presence  of  George  Williams. 
The  expense  of  the  tour  seemed  prohibitive,  for  none  of  my 
transatlantic  trips  hitherto  had  been  made  at  the  expense  of  the 
Committee's  treasury.  When  a  final  appeal  came  by  cablegram 
from  Geneva,  McBurney's  interest  was  aroused  by  the  urgency 
manifested.  He  had  served  on  the  World's  Conference  Com- 
mittee at  Berlin  which  recommended  the  holding  of  this 
*'plenar"  meeting,  and  to  make  my  going  practicable  he  secured 
a  fund  for  the  purpose.  There  was  another  reason  which 
made  me  very  unwilling  to  be  away  at  this  time.  The  journey 
would  compel  my  leaving  the  Mt.  Hermon  Student  Conference 
at  the  close  of  its  first  week.  This  regret  was  emphasized  after- 
ward when  I  learned  of  the  Student  Volunteer  interest  awak- 
ened during  the  closing  weeks  of  that  conference.  One  com- 
mission, how^ever,  which  formed  a  part  of  my  errand,  in  the 
future  years  bore  an  interesting  relation  to  that  development 
of  the  Mt.  Hermon  meeting. 

A  Forerunner  On  the  Foreign  Field  of  the  Student  Volunteer 
Movement 

No  member  of  the  International  Committee  had  shown  so 

233 


234  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

much  interest  in  Association  work  in  Europe,  and  especially 
in  the  Latin  countries,  as  James  Stokes,  a  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee from  its  first  appointment  in  18G6.  As  early  as  1868 
he  had  made  a  tour  among  the  Associations  of  Europe,  and 
on  his  return  i)resented  a  full  report  of  this  work  of  pioneer 
t^isitation  to  the  International  Convention  of  1809.  To  the 
work  of  the  World's  Committee,  from  its  origin  in  1878  at 
Geneva,  he  was  an  annual  contributor.  He  had  inherited  from 
his  father  this  interest  in  Christian  work  on  the  continent, 
especially  in  France.  Among  other  good  uses  to  which  he  was 
appropriating  the  fortune  he  had  recently  inherited,  he  in- 
cluded, wath  a  special  emphasis,  Association  work  in  France, 
beginning  with  Paris.  He  authorized  me  on  this  journey  to 
make  inquiry  in  that  city  concerning  the  Association,  and  its 
Secretary,  Mr.  Vander  Beken,  who  was  also  a  worker  in  the 
McCall  Mission.  I  was  to  arrange  for  this  Secretary  to  come 
as  Mr.  Stokes's  guest  to  the  American  Associations  for  a  six 
months'  visit,  including  a  term  of  study  at  the  Training  School 
in  Springfield.  As  a  result  of  my  visit  to  Paris,  Vander  Beken 
accepted  the  invitation  extended  to  him.  Additional  help  now 
came  from  Mr.  Stokes. 

Owing  wholly  to  his  own  faith  and  persevering  search,  he 
found  in  New  York  City,  at  our  very  doors,  a  person  who  had 
not  been  discovered  by  the  Secretarial  Bureau — Franklin  Gay- 
lord.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  1877,  and  a  Christian 
worker,  with  theological  seminary  training.  But  his  essential 
qualification,  not  possessed  by  any  Association  Secretary  of 
rank  on  our  roll,  and  giving  distinction  to  Mr.  Stokes'  discovery 
of  him,  was  his  excellent  command  of  the  French  language.  This 
he  had  acquired  by  a  residence  in  Paris,  during  which  he  had 
been  active  in  the  management  and  work  of  the  American 
Chapel  in  that  city.  In  that  church,  for  many  years,  members 
of  the  Stokes  family  had  been  interested,  and  from  one  of  its 
former  pastors  had  come  to  Mr.  Stokes  the  timely  suggestion 
of  Mr.  Gaylord  as  a  candidate  of  promise  for  the  work  in 
Paris.  Vander  Beken  during  his  stay  in  America  met  Gay- 
lord  and  became  eager  for  his  help.  Through  the  generous 
provision  of  Mr.  Stokes,  Gaylord  was  willing,  for  a  time  at 
least,  to  become  the  helper  needed  in  the  work  of  the  Associa- 
tion in  Paris.     A  better  location  for  rooms  was  essential  to 


WORLD'S  COMMITTEE  AND  CONFERENCES  235 

success  and  toward  this  Mr.  Stokes  was  willing  to  give  ad- 
ditional help.  Gavlord  began  work  in  Paris  in  1887  and  it 
was  soon  seen  by  Mr.  Stokes,  that  temporary  help  from  one 
who  had  had  longer  experience  in  Association  work  would  be 
of  great  value  to  both  Gaylord  and  Vander  Bekeu. 

This  help  he  urged  me  to  give,  asking  me  to  go  to  Paris 
for  that  purpose.  To  such  an  absence  abroad  on  ni}'  part  the 
Committee  would  not  consent,  so  the  appeal  was  transferred 
to  Thomas  Cree.  The  Committee  yielded  to  this  second  choice, 
but  Cree  seriously  hesitated.  Without  any  knowledge  of  the 
French  language,  a  stranger  and  a  foreigner,  he  was  naturally 
distrustful  of  his  ability  to  justify  the  expense  involved.  It 
certainly  seemed  venturesome  to  himself  and  his  counselors; 
but  again  Mr.  Stokes'  wise  persistency  prevailed,  and  Cree 
joined  Gaylord  in  Paris.  The  two  American  workers  proved 
to  be  a  rarelj"^  effective  combination.  They  commanded  such 
a  sympathetic  cooperation  from  donors  in  Paris  as  never  be- 
fore had  been  realized  in  that  city.  The  annual  budget  of 
|1,600  was  increased  by  them  to  |8,000.  Some  well  equipped 
rooms  on  the  Boulevard  were  secured,  and  both  Secretaries 
won  the  entire  confidence  of  their  Parisian  associates.  Many 
friends  in  the  city  were  enlisted,  among  them  an  eminent  and 
generous  layman  of  the  French  Protestant  Church — Alfred 
Andre,  a  man  of  wealth  and  wide  influence,  and  the  regent  of 
the  Bank  of  France. 

For  six  years — 1887  to  1894 — Gaylord  rendered  invaluable 
secretarial  service  in  Paris,  doing  such  an  excellent  work  that 
James  Stokes  carried  out  the  generous  purpose  he  had 
cherished  from  the  beginning,  and  offered  to  unite  Avith  Andre 
in  the  erection  of  an  Association  Building  in  Paris  in  which 
could  be  accommodated  the  fourfold  work,  which  was  being 
developed  beyond  the  cajiacity  and  equipment  of  the  rented 
rooms  on  the  Boulevard.  Andre  agreed  to  the  proposition,  and 
the  architect  made  a  trip  to  America  at  Mr.  Stokes'  expense, 
to  study  the  best  Association  buildings  yet  erected.  In  1894, 
on  Rue  de  Trevise,  a  commodious  Association  building  was 
dedicated.  In  rendering  invaluable  secretarial  service  in 
Paris,  Gaylord  developed  fine  qualifications  for  carrying  to 
other  lands  the  message,  method,  and  spirit  of  the  American 
Association.     It  seemed  indeed  a  serious  loss  to  the  work. 


236  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

when,  with  regret  on  his  own  part,  a  family  emergency  made 
it  necessary  for  him  to  return  to  America. 

Happily  for  the  work  in  Europe,  this  recall  was  temporary, 
and  when  in  1899  Mr.  Stokes  brought  to  him  again  an  urgent 
call,  to  St.  Petersburg,!  Russia,  and  opened  the  way  for  him 
to  accept,  he  was  able  to  respond,  and  for  seventeen  years 
— 1899-1917 — he  has  been  duplicating  for  young  men  in  St. 
Petersburg  and  Moscow  what  he  did  for  young  men  in  Paris. 
In  the  light  of  this  interesting  career  of  an  American  Secre- 
tary on  the  foreign  field,  it  can  be  clearly  seen  that  the  message 
which  in  1886  I  left  the  Mt.  Hermon  Conference  to  carry  to 
Paris,  resulted  in  placing  upon  the  foreign  field,  before  John 
Swift  arrived  in  Japan  in  1888,  an  American  Secretary  who 
was  really  the  first  to  give  the  best  portion  of  his  life,  away 
from  home  and  native  land,  to  American  Association  work  for 
young  men.  Many  years  later,  in  1907,  after  I  had  visited  our 
Secretaries  and  other  missionaries  in  Asia  and  Africa,  I  spent 
a  week  in  St.  Petersburg,^  a  guest  in  the  home  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Gaylord.  Nowhere  had  I  found  fellow  workers  who 
seemed  to  me  to  be  living  in  such  isolation  from  kindred  in 
the  Church  and  Kingdom  of  our  Lord,  or  in  quite  so  lonely  an 
environment  as  surrounded  them  in  their  unselfish  service 
in  the  name  of  Christ  to  the  young  men  of  Russia. 

Preparations  for  Geneva  Meeting 

After  this  long  digression  I  must  return  to  the  errand  which 
called  me  to  Geneva.  A  future  policy  of  concentration  by  the 
World's  Committee  had  been  authorized  by  the"  Berlin  Con- 
ference. Seven  years  before,  after  Charles  Fermaud  had 
finished  his  first  tour  among  the  American  Associations,  he 
had  spoken  of  being  impressed  with  the  primary  importance 
of  developing  (1)  the  local  General  Secretaryship,  (2)  agen- 
cies of  supervision,  and  (3)  the  erection  of  Association  build- 
ings. These  were  the  features  agreed  upon  as  constituting  a 
worthy  objective  for  the  World's  Committee  and  its  General 
Secretary.  In  the  World's  Conference  of  1881,  strong  emphasis 
upon  the  work  of  supervision  resulted  in  the  forming  of  the 
English  National  Council  and  the  British  Committee.  Other 
National  Committees  in  Europe  were  also  at  work.     In  the 

1  Since  1914  Petrograd. 


WORLD'S  COMMITTEE  AND  CONFERENCES  237 

Conference  of  1884,  at  Berlin,  the  local  General  Secretaryship, 
and  the  local  work,  as  illustrated  in  the  Christlicher  Verein 
J  linger  Manner  and  by  its  General  Secretary,  Christian  Phil- 
dius,  had  made  a  deep  and  favorable  impression.  Reviewing 
the  work  of  the  Committee,  and  of  the  European  Associations, 
it  seemed  evident  that  what  was  most  needed  was  to  plant 
Associations  in  other  capital  cities  of  Europe,  on  the  model  of 
the  one  in  Berlin.  Committee  members  from  Britain,  France, 
Germany,  Sweden,  Italy,  and  Belgium  were  to  be  present  at 
Geneva.  What  I  could  say  about  City  Association  Work  in 
America  would  have  far  less  weight  with  them,  than  would  a 
vivid  and  detailed  description  of  what  had  been  done  in  the 
capital  of  Germany.  Count  Bernstoff  was  not  then  a  member 
of  the  Committee,  but  he  and  Phildius  could  be  invited  to  come 
to  Geneva  as  guests.  Such  an  invitation  was  agreed  to  by  the 
Committee  in  Geneva,  and  I  wrote  to  Phildius  that,  if  he  would 
come,  his  expenses  would  be  provided  out  of  the  fund  which 
had  been  given  for  my  journey. 

Mrs.  Morse  and  I  went  to  Geneva  by  way  of  Paris  and 
Zurich.  In  the  former  city,  we  had  the  pleasure  of  being  wel- 
comed by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Elbert  B.  Monroe,  who  were  ending 
in  Europe  their  foreign  mission  tour  round  the  world.  I  was 
able  to  report  to  them  the  progress  toward  completion  of 
Dwight  Hall,  the  Student  Association  building  which  they  were 
erecting  on  the  Yale  campus,  and  which  was  to  be  dedicated 
in  October.  They  reported  to  us,  among  other  interesting 
events  of  their  tour,  the  reception  given  to  them  in  Osaka, 
Japan,  in  the  Association  building,  to  which  they  had  so  gen- 
erously contributed.-  At  Zurich,  where  we  tarried  over  night, 
quite  unexpectedly  we  met  Charles  Fermaud  on  his  way  to 
Geneva.  He  told  us  of  the  Zurich  Association,  and  its  desire 
for  a  General  Secretary,  and  also  of  an  excellent  Swiss  can- 
didate for  the  position.  Unfortunately  the  money  for  the  first 
years  salary  could  not  be  secured  by  the  excellent  group  of 
workers  in  that  city,  who  were  ready  in  every  other  way  to 
support  the  work  and  to  cooperate  efficiently  with  a  Secretary. 
The  worthy  President  of  the  Zurich  Association,  Mr.  Eiden- 
benz,  I  had  met  at  Geneva  in  1878.  This  seemed  to  me  a 
strategic  opportunity  to  plant  a  city  secretary.    At  breakfast 

» Pp.  333-«. 


238  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

in  the  hotel  the  following  morning,  who  should  appear  but  John 
Wauamaker,  who  was  abroad  on  business  errands.  Telling 
him  of  the  secretarial  message  we  were  taking  to  Geneva,  and 
also  the  story  of  the  Zurich  work,  I  asked  him  if  he  would  be 
responsible  for  the  first  year's  salary  of  a  Zurich  Secretary, 
and  at  the  same  time,  in  this  way,  patriotically  fortify  the 
American  message  I  was  carrying  to  our  World's  Committee? 
He  consented,  and  so  before  reaching  Geneva,  to  a  secretarial 
message  was  added  provision  for  a  Swiss  City  Secretary. 

Sessions  at  Geneva 

A  yet  stronger  appeal  came  from  Berlin  in  the  persons  of 
Count  Bernstoff  and  Christian  Phildius.  The  Committee  spent 
three  days — Saturday,  Monday,  and  Tuesday — in  interesting 
sessions  in  the  villas  of  two  friends  of  the  work,  while  the 
fourth  and  intervening  day,  Sunday,  August  22nd,  was  spent 
at  Lausanne.  The  work  of  the  Committee  and  the  needs  of 
its  field  were  thoroughly  discussed.  The  importance  of  con- 
centration on  the  establishment  of  strong  City  Associations 
was  agreed  to.  What  this  meant  was  very  vividly  and  im- 
pressively set  forth  by  Count  Bernstoff  and  Christian  Phildius 
in  a  description  of  the  work  in  Berlin.  At  Lausanne  on 
Sunday  we  met  200  young  men,  delegates  from  the  Associations 
in  Switzerland,  to  whom  this  message  was  forcibly  given.  One 
evening  in  Geneva  there  was  a  notable  gathering — small  but 
select — including  Christian  citizens  of  influence.  The  strongest 
presentation  of  the  main  theme  of  the  Conference  was  given 
on  this  occasion.  One  Protestant  capital  of  Europe  was  speak- 
ing to  another  of  its  class,  in  terms  of  convincing  persuasion. 
Strong  assurance  was  given  me  that  the  impression  made 
meant  a  welcome  reenforcement  for  the  work  in  Geneva,  and 
an  Association  veteran  of  that  city — Max  Perrot — assured  me 
that  an  Association  building  for  Geneva  would  be  the  ultimate 
result. 

Naturally  the  need  of  providing  training  for  General  Secre- 
taries was  emphasized,  and  Phildius  reported  what  was  being 
accomplished  on  this  line  in  Berlin,  where  candidates  from 
and  for  other  cities  had  sought  and  found  training.  The  im- 
portance of  promoting  meetings  of  General  Secretaries,  and 
the  benefits  derived  from  useful  discussion  at  these  meetings 


WORLD'S  COMMITTEE  AND  CONFERENCES  239 

were  also  presented.  lu  this  couuectiou  the  report  of  the 
Training  School  recently  established  in  Springfield  excited 
comment  and  inquiry.  One  immediate  result  was  the  rental 
by  the  Geneva  Association  of  a  new  and  superior  suite  of  rooms 
and  the  employment  of  a  Secretary.  Also  a  movement  toward 
a  building  began  soon  after,  and  in  1894 — the  same  year  in 
which  the  Paris  building  was  dedicated — the  Geneva  Associa- 
tion rejoiced  in  occupying  a  home  of  its  own. 

An  interesting  feature  of  this  visit  to  Geneva  was  delightful 
fellowship  with  the  family  of  George  Williams,  whose  wife 
and  only  daughter  and  youngest  son  were  with  him.  It  was 
Miss  Helen's  first  trip  abroad,  and  her  fresh  delight  in  every- 
thing she  saw  was  very  contagious.  Her  sweet  unselfish 
character  and  her  ladylike  bearing  were  very  winning.  Not 
many  years  after  this  her  parents  were  called  on  to  part  with 
her,  and  while  they  bore  their  loss  with  beautiful  Christian 
resignation,  it  was  a  lifelong  bereavement. 

World's  Conference  op  1888  at  Stockholm 
The  Journey  to  Stockholm 

The  holding  of  the  World's  Conference  of  1888  in  the  capital 
of  Sweden  was  due  to  an  enterprising  visit  of  Secretary 
Fermaud  to  that  city,  and  the  enlistment  of  King  Oscar  in  the 
invitation  which  came  from  the  Stockholm  Association.  The 
three  preceding  conferences  had  been  held  in  the  capital  cities 
of  Switzerland,  Great  Britain,  and  Germany.  None  of  the 
ten  conferences,  since  the  first  in  1855  at  Paris,  had  met  in 
Scandinavia.  Attendance  by  delegates  outside  of  the  country 
where  we  met  was  large  beyond  precedent.  From  Britain  and 
Australia  came  132  and  56  from  North  America.  Of  this  large 
English  speaking  delegation  103  had  come  to  Norway  in  one 
steamer  from  Leith.  In  some  family  letters  of  the  period  I 
find  the  following  description  of  our  experiences  as  members 
of  that  party : 

"August  3rd  in  the  good  Norwegian  steamer  Sirius,  the  dele- 
gates from  Britain  and  North  America  embarked  at  Leith  for 
an  eight  day  trip  through  the  fiords  and  mountains  of  Western 
Norway.  .  .  .  One  day  we  spent  at  Bergen,  reputed  to  be 
the  most  enterprising  city  and  port  in  Norway,  and  owning 
more  shipping  than  any  other  city  of  its  size  in  the  world. 


240  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

The  young  men  had  arranged  to  lay  the  corner  stone  of  their 
new  Association  building  during  our  one  day  there  and  a  most 
cordial  reception  with  a  feste  was  given  us  in  their  large  public 
hall. 

At  Trondjhem  we  left  the  steamer,  with  regret,  and  boarded 
a  commodious  train  of  comfortable  cars  connected  with  one 
another,  American  fashion.  Many  of  the  delegates  had  never 
before  seen  a  train  of  this  kind,  and  to  the  younger  ones  it  was 
a  source  of  unbroken  delight  to  pass  back  and  forth  from  one 
end  of  the  train  to  the  other !  .  .  .  This  train,  granted  for  our 
use,  all  the  way  to  Stockholm,  by  the  Government-Management 
of  the  Railroads,  had  been  used  by  the  Prince  of  Wales  and 
his  party  during  a  visit  by  him  several  years  ago.  As  on  the 
former  occasion,  the  train  had  been  advertised  all  along  the 
route,  with  mention  of  the  stations  at  which  it  would  stop  for 
a  few  minutes.  PeoiJle  came  for  miles  to  see  it,  and  at  each 
stop  we  were  welcomed  to  the  platform  and  after  singing  by 
the  delegates  one  of  the  party  made  a  short  address,  which  was 
interpreted  by  a  Swedish-American  citizen  who  was  also  a 
delegate.  The  people  everywhere  treated  us  most  courteously. 
We  arrived  at  Oostersund  at  10 :30  p.  m.  Saturday  by  day- 
light! Upon  each  delegate  a  large  printed  number  was  placed, 
for  we  were  billeted  for  the  week  end  all  over  the  town  in 
the  homes  of  the  people.  These  numbers  introduced  us  to  our 
hosts,  in  an  arithmetical  language  understood  both  by  them 
and  their  guests. 

Sunday  morning  the  entire  party  took  breakfast  together 
at  a  central  hall,  and  then  were  led  into  the  largest  auditorium 
in  the  place  where  between  1,000  and  2,000  people  had  gathered 
for  service.  Delegates  from  England,  Scotland,  Australia,  and 
America  sjioke,  and  were  interpreted,  the  audience  patiently 
listening  for  two  and  a  half  hours.  As  I  looked  into  the 
strong,  attractive,  patient  faces,  I  thought  that  possibly  our 
Anglo-Saxon  ancestors  had  had  too  much,  and  our  Nor(th) 
man  blood  too  little  credit  for  what  held  the  earth-works  on 
Bunker  Hill,  and  gave  their  strength  to  the  British  squares 
at  Waterloo,  and  the  thin  red  line  at  Balaklava! 

Dinner  at  3  :30,  an  open  air  meeting  in  a  grove  with  many 
hundreds  of  people,  a  young  men's  meeting,  an  evening  meeting 
in  the  crowded  hall  and  finally  supper — all  brought  us  into 
closer  sympathy  with  the  people  who  had  done  so  much  .to  make 
us  comfortable. 

The  experiences  of  Saturday  were  repeated  on  Monday  all 
along  the  route,  and  we  were  told  that  no  special  train  had 
ever  received  quite  such  a  people's  welcome  as  was  given  to 
us.  In  many  ways  we  have  been  made  to  feel  that  our  reli- 
gious errand  and  Christian  work  are  the  cause  of  the  ovation 
we  continue  to  receive.    Last  night  we  spent  in  Bolnas,  wel- 


WORLD'S  COMMITTEE  AND  CONFERENCES  241 

corned  at  the  hotel,  and  later  in  the  cathedral  church  by  the 
venerable  kindlj  Pastor.  ...  A  glimpse  of  Upsala  and  its 
noble  university  buildings  and  library,  we  gained  in  a  few 
hours  with  a  student  of  theology  as  our  guide,  and  arrived  at 
Stockholm  that  night. 

On  the  day  after  the  conference,  August  20th,  a  royal  recep- 
tion was  given  us  at  the  suburban  palace  of  the  King,  the 
Crown  Prince  [now  King  Gustaf],  representing  his  Father. 
He  first  met  the  officers  of  the  Conference  and  the  ladies  of 
the  party  in  the  grand  Salon,  greeting  us  one  by  one,  and 
making  a  pleasant  remark  to  each.  At  the  luncheon,  and  later, 
on  the  terrace  he  engaged  in  pleasant  informal  talk  with 
delegates.  He  was  affable  and  unaffected  and  impressed  every 
one  of  us  with  his  genuine  manly  dignity,  and  his  genial  cour- 
tesy. .  .  .  Among  the  ladies  of  the  Court  who  assisted  in 
receiving  the  guests  we  were  glad  to  meet  several  of  American 
birth  who  had  married  members  of  the  nobility." 

Tlie  Conference  Proceedings 

Prominent  in  the  report  of  the  World's  Committee  was  the 
confession  of  its  ineffectual  endeavor,  from  lack  of  resources 
in  men  and  money,  to  send  to  the  foreign  mission  field  the 
Association  workers  whom  missionaries  on  that  field  had 
urgentl}^  solicited  from  the  Committee.  In  this  emergency  they 
had  gladly  accepted  from  the  International  Committee  the  offer 
of  Wishard,^  to  act  as  a  World's  Committee's  Secretary  in  the 
visitation  of  this  field,  without  any  tax  on  the  treasury  at 
Geneva.  The  delegates  at  Stockholm  listened  to  Wishard's 
presentation  of  his  errand  and  message,  and  heartily  ratified 
the  action  of  their  Committee. 

Each  World's  Conference  receives  nominations  of  members 
to  constitute  its  Committee.  These  nominations  are  received 
at  Geneva  from  the  different  National  and  International  Com- 
mittees and  are  usually  renominations  of  those  already  mem- 
bers. In  this  way  my  own  membership  had  been  continued 
since  1878.  The  time  had  arrived,  in  my  opinion,  to  elect  to 
this  position  one  who  was  not  an  employed  officer.  And  the 
unprecedented  interest  Mr.  Stokes  was  taking  in  the  work 
seemed  to  point  strongly  to  him  as  the  most  fitting  and  best 
fitted  member  of  the  International  Committee  to  be  nominated 
to  the  Stockholm  Conference.  Accordingly  his  name  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Delegates'  Committee. 

•Pp.  369,  370. 


242  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

In  reporting  this  and  other  nominations,  the  Committee 
for  the  first  time  added  the  names  of  two  honorary  Secretaries, 
one  from  Great  Britain — National  Secretary  W.  H.  Mills — and 
the  other  from  North  America — the  International  General 
Secretary.  Mr.  Mills  continued  in  oflSce  until  his  death  in  1912. 
I  was  continued  until  1913,  when  the  Conference  of  that  year 
at  Edinburgh  elected  me  for  life,  and  for  a  similar  period 
elected  Charles  Fermaud,  who  had  a  few  months  before  re- 
signed his  office  as  General  Secretary  of  the  Committee,  which 
he  had  held  since  1878. 

The  World's  Conference  at  Stockholm  caused  a  new  depart- 
ure in  the  Association  work  of  that  city.  For  the  purpose  of 
the  Conference  and  its  entertainment  a  student  of  Upsala  Uni- 
versity— Karl  Fries — had  become  temporarily  the  Secretary  of 
the  Stockholm  Association.  The  service  he  rendered  at  the 
Conference,  and  the  impression  of  the  work  which  he  had  re- 
ceived, led  to  his  permanent  continuance  in  office.  He  visited 
Berlin  and  gained  acquaintance  with  the  work  of  Phildius. 
Some  years  later — in  1893 — he  visited  North  America,  attend- 
ing the  Northfield  Conference,  and  receiving  heart}^  welcome  in 
the  leading  American  Associations,  as  the  secretarial  leader 
of  the  work  in  Scandinavia.  When  the  first  meeting  of  the 
World's  Student  Christian  Federation  was  held  in  the  Castle 
of  Vadstena  in  1895,  Karl  Fries  was  chosen  President  of  the 
Federation,  a  position  of  world  student  leadership  to  which 
ever  since  he  has  been  reelected. 

The  Stockholm  Conference,  at  the  request  of  the  British 
delegation,  instructed  the  World's  Committee  to  call  the  next 
meeting  in  1891,  after  an  interval  of  three  years,  in  order  that 
— if  it  should  seem  desirable  to  that  Conference — the  follow- 
ing meeting  might  be  held  in  London  in  1894.  the  jubilee  year 
of  the  parent  Association  in  that  city. 

The  World's  Committee  was  also  instructed  at  Stockholm  to 
submit  to  the  next  Conference,  at  Amsterdam,  carefully  drawn 
rules  of  procedure  for  future  Conferences.  These  rules  were 
subsequently  drawn  up  by  Thomas  K.  Cree,  who  had  attended 
every  Conference  since  and  including  that  of  1878.  They  incor- 
porated, substantially,  the  main  features  of  the  Standing  Rules 
of  the  American  International  Convention  modified  bj^  the 
experience  of  the  World  Conferences.  In  accord  with  precedent 


WORLD'S  COMMITTEE  AND  CONFERENCES  243 

hitherto  it  was  provided  that  to  the  Delegates'  Committee,  com- 
posed of  a  member  from  each  country  represented  in  the 
Conference,  should  be  given  the  responsible  work  of  receiving, 
digesting,  and  reporting,  with  recommendations,  the  Report 
of  the  World's  Committee.  Action  on  this  report  was  the  im- 
portant deliberative  act  of  each  Conference. 

Each  member  of  this  Delegates'  Committee,  while  nominated 
by  the  group  of  delegates  from  his  own  country,  was  also  sug- 
gested by  and  representative  of  the  National  Committee  of 
that  country.  Practically  to  these  Committees,  as  to  our  own 
International  Committee,  was  entrusted  the  accrediting  of 
delegates  to  each  World's  Conference,  each  country  being  en- 
titled to  one  delegate  for  every  five  of  the  Associations  it  con- 
tained. The  variety  existing  in  Association  work  around  the 
world,  the  widely  differing  size  of  the  delegations  from  each 
country,  and  the  almost  exclusive  relation  of  the  World's  Com- 
mittee to  these  National  Committees  rather  than  to  the  local 
Associations,  tended  to  make  the  World's  Conference  an  agency 
responsible  to  these  National  Committees  as  its  constituency. 
With  the  development  of  these  features  of  the  Conference,  since 
the  creation  of  its  Committee  in  1878,  Thomas  Cree  was 
thoroughly  familiar.  Not  only  had  he  attended  the  last  four 
Conferences,  but  his  vigilance  had  been  a  strong  factor  in  the 
management  of  each.  The  rules  as  drafted  by  him  reflected 
correctly  the  practice  of  the  Conferences  of  1881,  1884,  and 
1888  and  were  accepted  by  the  World's  Committee  for  report 
to  the  next  Conference. 

The  World's  Conference  of  1891 

The  new  rules  as  submitted  by  the  Committee  were  adopted. 
With  cordial  unanimity  it  was  voted  to  accept  the  invitation 
from  London,  to  hold  the  next  Conference  in  1894  in  that  city, 
as  a  significant  celebration  of  the  Jubilee  of  the  founding  in 
1844  of  the  parent  English  speaking  Association. 

For  Mrs.  Morse,  McBurney,  and  myself,  the  recreation  and 
pleasure  of  this  transatlantic  journey  were  enhanced  by  the 
company  of  Mrs.  Morse's  mother  and  her  father,  the  Hon. 
Joshua  M.  Van  Cott,  of  Brooklyn,  New  York.  We  spent  twelve 
days  together  in  London,  and  on  our  way  to  Amsterdam  I  made 
a  second  visit  to  the  field  of  Waterloo  in  the  helpful  company 


244  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

of  Mr.  Van  Cott.  In  the  interval  of  twenty-four  years  between 
the  two  visits,  I  had  spent  a  day  upon  the  field  of  Gettysburg 
— the  scene  of  another  decisive  battle  in  the  world's  history. 
The  strong  contrast  between  the  dimensions  of  the  two  fields 
and  the  duration  of  the  contest  in  each  instance,  was  especially 
interesting. 

Two  other  welcome  companions  joined  us  before  we  reached 
Amsterdam — Mr.  and  Mrs,  Luther  D.  Wishard.  Ever  since 
the  Stockholm  Conference  he  had  been  on  his  foreign  mission- 
ary journey  around  the  world,  and  now  on  his  way  home  was 
bringing  to  the  Conference  of  1891  a  cheering  report  of  the 
welcome  accorded  to  the  Association — especially  to  its  Student 
Department — throughout  the  foreign  mission  field,  by  the  mis- 
sionaries of  the  churches  from  all  the  Christian  countries.  Our 
party,  increased  by  the  company  of  John  R.  Mott,  were  good 
listeners  to  the  many  interesting  stories  they  had  to  tell  of 
the  wonderful  blessings  granted  to  both  of  them  throughout 
their  long  journey,  by  land  and  sea.  We  journeyed  together 
to  Holder  and  spent  a  day  pleasantly  at  this  extreme  pro- 
montory of  North  Holland,  exposed  more  than  any  part  of  this 
coast  to  the  violence  of  wind  and  wave  from  which  the  town 
is  fully  protected  by  the  huge  and  massive  Helder  Dyke,  five 
miles  in  length,  twelve  feet  in  width,  and  descending  200  feet 
into  the  sea.    The  highest  tide  never  reaches  the  summit. 

The  Jubilee  World's  Conference  at  London,  June,  1894 

The  Thirteenth  World's  Conference,  as  voted  by  its  two  pre- 
decessors, met  in  London  so  as  to  be  in  session  in  the  year  and 
on  the  day  (June  6,  1894)  which  commemorated  the  founding 
in  that  world  capital  of  the  parent  English  speaking  Associa- 
tion. Over  2,000  delegates  from  a  brotherhood  now  planted  in 
32  countries  on  all  the  continents  came  together  to  unite  in 
a  Jubilee  of  thanksgiving  to  the  Giver  of  all  good  for  His 
marvelous  blessing  upon  a  world-wide  work  among  young  men, 
and  upon  its  founder,  who  was  graciously  spared  to  be  Presi- 
dent and  host  of  the  Conference. 

The  opening  service  was  held  in  Westminster  Abbey.  For 
other  impressive  services  we  met  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  in 
the  immense  Albert  Hall,  and  in  the  Mansion  House.  Ad- 
dresses were  listened  to  from  leaders  among  bishops  and  other 


WORLD'S  COMMITTEE  AND  CONFERENCES  245 

clergy,  and  from  among  the  laity  of  Great  Britain  and  other 
lands. 

From  North  America  173  delegates  were  present — an  un- 
precedented number.  Among  them  were  42  officers  and  mem- 
bers of  the  International,  State,  and  Provincial  Commitees. 
These  included  Thane  Miller,  Morris  K.  Jesup,  Robert  Mc- 
Burney,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  and  James  Stokes.  The  two 
first  named  were  chosen  Vice-Presidents.  An  American  dele- 
gate prominent,  eloquent,  honored,  and  most  heartily  welcomed 
was  Rev.  Dr.  Theodore  L.  Cuyler.  Since  his  retirement  some 
years  before,  from  his  pulpit  and  long  pastorate  in  Brooklyn, 
in  response  to  many  urgent  requests  from  his  many  friends 
among  Association  leaders  he  had  been  treating  our  Associa- 
tions as  a  continent-wide  parish,  responding  eloquently  and 
helpfully  to  their  calls,  as  they  came  to  him  from  convention, 
conference,  anniversary,  and  other  Association  platforms.  He 
was  thoroughly  at  home  in  London,  among  many  English 
friends,  with  none  of  whom  he  was  more  intimate  than  with 
Sir  George  Williams. 

As  usual  Mrs.  Morse  and  I  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  with 
Robert  McBurney,  little  dreaming  that  this  was  to  be  his  last 
World's  Conference.  With  us  also  were  our  brother-in-law 
— my  classmate,  roommate,  and  lifelong  friend.  Rev.  Dr.  Henry 
H.  Stebbins,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y. — accompanied  by  his  wife 
and  younger  daughter,  a  sympathetic  and  congenial  family 
party,  or  inner  circle,  within  the  American  delegation. 

The  Founder,  Sir  George  Williams 

On  arriving  in  London  by  way  of  Peterborough  and  Cam- 
bridge, we  learned  the  good  news  that  George  AVilliams  had 
been  honored  with  knighthood  by  the  Queen,  also  that  a 
higher  honor — the  Freedom  of  the  City  of  London — was  to 
be  conferred  on  him  by  the  Corporation  Council,  in  response 
to  the  plea  of  Alderman  Dimsdale,  that  ''this  man  had,  for 
fifty  years,  made  the  welfare  of  the  young  men  of  London  the 
supreme  and  successful  endeavor  of  his  life,"  and  that  "the  citi- 
zen who  had  done  this  was  worthy  of  the  best  that  the  City 
could  give." 

Very  promptly  McBurney  and  I  called  to  present  our  heart- 
iest congratulations  to  Sir  George  and  Lady  Williams.    Later, 


246  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

with  Mrs.  Morse,  we  dined  with  them  and  spent  a  happy  eve- 
ning together,  closing  as  usual  with  family  worship,  in  which 
all  the  servants  of  the  household  united.  During  the  Con- 
ference Mr.  Jesup  said  to  me,  "The  Queen  has  knighted  George 
Williams  for  his  goodness,  and  the  act  confers  as  much  honor 
on  the  donor  as  on  the  one  who  has  received  her  gift !" 

The  ovation  to  George  Williams  as  founder  and  as  Presi- 
dent both  of  the  Association  and  the  Conference  culminated 
on  Jubilee  day — June  6th — before  crowded  audiences  in  Exetei 
Hall  in  the  morning  and  afternoon  and  in  the  much  larger  Al- 
bert Hall  in  the  evening.  Delegations  from  the  various  nations 
around  the  world  presented  to  him  in  succession  some  token 
of  regard  and  appreciation.  For  the  American  delegates 
Morris  K.  Jesup,  as  their  Chairman,  presented  a  handsomely 
illuminated  address  of  congratulation,  containing  the  auto- 
graph signatures  of  the  members,  Trustees,  and  Secretaries 
of  the  International  Committee,  and  the  Chairmen  and  Sec- 
retaries of  the  State  and  Provincial  Committees. 

After  the  Association  world  had  been  heard  from,  tokens  of 
congratulation  and  appreciation  were  presented  from  many 
Christian  and  civic  societies,  including  Bible,  Tract,  Mission, 
and  other  philanthropic  agencies,  in  the  work  of  which  he 
was  ever  taking  a  generous  interest. 

Several  remarkable  addresses  were  made  that  day,  in  Exeter 
Hall,  but  the  most  eloquent  speaker  was  Dr.  Cuyler.  What 
he  said  had  been  carefully  thought  out,  but  consisted  also — 
so  he  told  me — of  what  was  unpremeditated,  and  given  to 
him  under  the  stimulus  of  an  inspiring  audience  and  an  ex- 
traordinary anniversary  event.  The  whole  environment  drew 
from  the  speaker  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  impressive 
addresses  to  which  I  ever  listened.  Some  time  after  its  de- 
livery Dr.  Cuyler  said  to  me:  "I  feel  as  if  it  had  been  given  to 
me,  and  not  as  if  I  had  created  it.  If  I  were  called  on  to 
name  the  best  I  have  ever  written  or  spoken  I  would  select 
this  utterance  in  Exeter  Hall."  It  is  reproduced  in  the  report 
of  the  Conference. 

The  American  delegates,  knowing  of  Dr.  Cuyler's  almost 
total  deafness,  instead  of  greeting  him  with  applause,  all 
waved  their  handkerchiefs  in  the  silent  Chautauqua  salute. 
This  was  immediately  caught  up  by  the  immense  audience 


WORLD'S  COMMITTEE  AND  CONFERENCES  247 

and  this  beautiful  expression  of  enthusiasm  became  unanimous 
and  international. 

By  special  request  of  Sir  George  Williams,  I  had  been  asked 
to  present  the  paper  from  the  American  delegation  on  the 
broad  topic  "The  Work  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion." No  attempt  was  made  to  treat  of  the  work  as  it  had 
been  developed  in  all  lands  during  the  half-century.  The  topic 
was  limited,  and  interpreted  to  mean :  "Association  Work  as 
far  as  it  has  been  developed  in  its  best  form  and  spirit  in  the 
North  American  Associations."  This  attitude  toward  any 
Association  topic  to  be  dealt  with  on  the  platform  of  the 
World's  Conferences  had  seemed  to  me,  from  the  beginning  of 
my  connection  with  the  Conference,  the  approach  by  which 
speakers  from  different  countries  could  render  their  best  serv- 
ice. By  this  method  certainly  more  correct  impressions  were 
given  and  received  concerning  what  was  being  accomplished 
in  each  country,  and  delegates  returned  better  informed  con- 
cerning the  progress  of  work  in  other  lands,  and  of  the  mes- 
sage such  information  carried  to  them  in  their  own  country.* 
The  American  jubilee  paper,  therefore,  set  forth  the  develop- 
ment of  Association  work  on  our  continent  from  its  beginning 
in  1851,  and  what  had  contributed  to  its  progress  and  efficiency. 

Important  Advances  Agreed  Upon 

It  was  not  at  any  of  the  great  assemblies  of  this  Jubilee 
that  McBurney  rendered  his  last  and  greatest  service  to  the 
World's  Conference  and  its  work.  As  usual  at  each  Conference 
since  1878  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Delegates'  Com- 
mittee, which  prepares  the  report  on  the  World's  Committee 
report.  At  this  Conference,  service  on  this  committee  proved 
to  be  a  task  so  absorbing  that  he  was  unable  to  attend  any 
of  the  public  sessions. 

There  was  a  strong  difiference  of  opinion  within  the  com- 
mittee, and  it  was  owing  to  his  wise,  patient,  and  prayerful 
guidance  as  Chairman,  that  a  unanimous  report  was  submitted 
in  favor  of  an  urgently  desired  extension  of  the  work  of  the 
World's  Committee.  The  report  was  unanimously  adopted 
and  the  World's  Committee  was  authorized  to  secure  a  second 
General  Secretary.    Any  other  conclusion  at  that  time  would 

*  "Jubilee  of  Y.  M.  C.  A.,"  1894,  pp.  121-133. 


248  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

have  created  a  serious  discontent,  especially  among  those  Eng- 
lish speaking  friends  in  Great  Britain  and  America,  who 
were  most  interested  and  influential  in  sustaining  the  World's 
Committee's  work. 

Among  these  friends  there  had  been,  for  some  years,  a  grow- 
ing desire  for  more  attention  by  the  Committee  to  development 
of  the  work  in  the  larger  cities  of  the  continent.  What  had 
been  accomplished  in  Berlin  under  Count  Bernstoff,  Baron  von 
Kothkirch,  and  Christian  Phildius,  and  in  some  of  the  larger 
cities  of  Germany,  in  Stockholm  under  Prince  Oscar  Berna- 
dotte  and  Karl  Fries  and  also  in  Paris  through  Messrs.  Stokes, 
Andre,  Gaylord,  Cree,  and  others,  could  be  extended — it  was 
thought — to  other  cities  if  only  the  World's  Committee  could 
secure  a  Secretary  of  metropolitan  experience  as  an  associate 
of  Secretary  Fermaud.  Two  candidates  were  mentioned.  Chris- 
tian Phildius,  of  Berlin,  and  Karl  Fries,  of  Stockholm,  Secre- 
taries of  conspicuous  efficiency  in  City  Association  Work. 

This  action  of  the  Conference  was  favorable  to  such  an  in- 
crease of  the  Committee's  staff,  and  resulted  in  a  call  to  Mr. 
Phildius.  It  was  an  action  fittingly  taken  by  the  Conference, 
under  the  leadership  of  McBurney,  the  first  and  ablest  of 
North  American  Metropolitan  Secretaries.  In  1896  Phildius 
became  the  second  General  Secretary  of  the  World's  Com- 
mittee. In  that  responsible  office  for  many  years  he  has  ac- 
complished a  useful  and  valuable  service.  But  he  has  been 
diverted  from  fulfilling  the  expectations  of  the  members  and 
friends  who  had  most  urgently  favored  his  leaving  Metropolitan 
Work  in  Berlin  in  order  that  he  might  more  effectually  ex- 
tend similar  Metropolitan  Work  on  the  continent  of  Europe. 

In  addition  to  this  endeavor  to  extend  City  Association 
Work  in  Europe,  an  important  step  was  taken  at  this  Jubilee 
meeting  toward  extending  round  the  world  the  Student  Asso- 
ciation Movement  of  North  America.  One  of  the  six  Interna- 
tional Secretaries  present  was  John  R.  Mott.  As  chairman  of 
the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  in  response  to  an  invitation 
from  the  Student  Volunteer  Missionary  Union  of  Great  Britain 
he  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  spend  some  time  in  visiting  the 
British  universities.  He  could  not  do  this  without  absent- 
ing himself  from  the  Northfield  Conference  this  summer. 

To  facilitate  his  performing  this  important  errand  I  was 


WORLD'S  COMMITTEE  AND  CONFERENCES  249 

to  return  immediately  after  the  Conference,  in  season  for  the 
Northfield  meeting.  At  London  in  Exeter  Hall,  Mott  made 
a  brief  but  very  impressive  address  on  the  Student  Work.  This 
led  Prince  Oscar  Bernadotte,  of  the  Swedish  delegation,  to 
seek  him  out  and  to  offer  to  call  together,  in  Sweden,  a  meet- 
ing of  representative  students  to  hear  his  message,  if  he  would 
come  to  that  country  and  deliver  it  to  them.  Similar  invita- 
tions came  spontaneously  from  delegates  from  Denmark, 
France,  and  Switzerland.  How  this  constituted  one  of  the 
steps  leading  to  the  forming  of  a  World  Student  Federation 
will  be  told  in  another  chapter.^ 

In  the  light  of  the  development  of  this  Student  Work,  since 
realized,  we  can  see  clearly  that  at  the  Jubilee  Conference — 
where  Robert  McBurney  was  rendering  his  last  service — there 
was  present  in  the  person  and  message  of  this  junior  delegate, 
the  beginning  and  the  promise  of  a  student  work  propaganda, 
originating  indeed  in  the  North  American  Associations,  and 
fostered  by  them,  but  extending  its  influence  bej^ond  and 
through  the  Association,  to  the  Church  and  Kingdom  of  Christ 
throughout  the  world. 

Visits  to  Windsor  Castle  and  to  Paris 

The  closing  event  of  the  Jubilee  was  a  visit  to  Windsor 
Castle.  By  the  gracious  act  of  the  Queen  this  royal  residence 
was  thrown  open  to  a  very  unusual  extent  for  the  enjoyment 
of  the  delegates.  We  were  allowed  to  visit  the  Mausoleum  in 
which  were  the  tombs  of  the  Prince  Consort  and  Princess 
Alice.  By  the  side  of  the  Prince  was  the  place  reserved  for 
the  Queen.  We  were  also  admitted  to  one  of  the  corridors  in 
the  Castle,  in  which  stood  a  beautiful  piece  of  statuary  repre- 
senting the  Queen  and  the  Prince  Consort.  The  Queen  is 
wearing  a  simple  and  quaint  poke  bonnet,  and  is  looking  up 
into  the  face  of  the  Prince  Consort.  Under  the  figures  is 
the  inscription;  "Allured  to  brighter  worlds,  and  showed  the 
way."  On  the  wall  hung  a  large  painting  representing  the 
first  official  meeting  of  the  Queen  and  her  ministers.  This 
girl  of  eighteen  was  dressed  in  a  simple  white  frock,  and  on 
her  face  was  the  expression  of  a  royal  dignity  combined  with 
a  shy  girlish  look,  both  simple  and  womanly. 

»Pp..379,  380. 


250  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Near  by  stood  a  glass  case  in  which,  among  other  highly 
prized  treasures,  was  the  open,  well  worn  and  marked  Bible 
which  belonged  to  General  Gordon. 

During  our  visit  an  immense,  historic  photograph  of  the 
delegates  was  taken  in  front  of  the  Castle.  It  was  impossible 
for  the  camera  to  take  in  the  whole  group  at  once,  so  we  were 
taken  in  three  sections,  which  were  put  together  so  as  to  form 
one  picture.  When  finished  it  was  discovered  that  one  of  our 
delegation  appeared  in  each  section,  thus  demonstrating  his 
ubiquitous  character. 

The  large  Swedish  delegation  added  a  charm  to  the  music 
of  the  Conference  by  their  exquisite  singing.  They  received 
special  and  rare  permission  to  visit  Westminster  Abbey  to- 
gether, and  while  there,  at  the  monument  to  Jenny  Lind,  to 
pay  homage  to  her  memory  in  song. 

Immediately  after  the  close  of  the  Conference,  in  connection 
with  the  opening  at  Paris  of  the  new  Association  building,  the 
gift  of  James  Stokes  and  Alfred  Andre,  the  former  received 
a  decoration  of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  I  was  denied  the  oppor- 
tunity of  being  present  at  this  ceremony  in  honor  of  my  friend, 
by  an  obligation  to  attend  the  Northfield  Student  Conference, 
an  obligation  so  binding  as  to  hasten  my  return  to  America. 
There  was  only  time  in  my  program  before  sailing  to  cross 
the  Channel  and  make  a  hurried  trip  to  Paris  for  a  very  inter- 
esting visit  to  the  new  building. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
LOCAL  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

Connection  with  New  York  City  Association 

For  the  knowledge  of  City  Association  Work  needed  by  an 
International  Secretary  I  was  chiefly  indebted  to  the  Associa- 
tion in  my  home  city  of  New  York,  and  to  that  intimate  fellow- 
ship with  its  General  Secretary,  Directors,  and  working  com- 
mittees, of  which  account  has  been  given.^  In  1876  I  was 
chosen  an  advisory  member  of  the  Board  of  Directors  and 
became  a  regular  attendant  upon  its  meetings. 

Ten  years  later,  when  the  time  was  ripe  for  a  beginning  of 
what  is  known  as  the  metropolitan  organization,  it  was  ex- 
President  Elbert  B.  Monroe  who  expressed  to  his  fellow  direc- 
tors solicitude  concerning  the  branch  extension  of  the  New 
York  City  Association.  Already  the  Board  was  responsible 
for  six  branches,  and  the  demand  for  additional  ones  was 
urgent.  In  his  own  experience,  as  President,  he  had  felt  that 
this  growth  laid  too  heavy  a  burden  upon  the  Board  and  the 
General  Secretary.  With  equal  clearness  he  saw  that  the 
creation  of  these  branches  by  a  parent  or  trunk  Association 
had  proved  an  excellent  method  of  extension.  Already  within 
the  city  there  was  enough  unwise  location  of  some  denomina- 
tional churches  to  commend  the  wisdom  of  the  method  which 
the  Association  had  followed  in  locating  the  six  branches 
already  formed.  But  as  these  branches  multiplied,  could  the 
Board  maintain  a  virile  relation  to  each  and  also  continue 
to  be  responsible  for  the  entire  direction  of  the  work  at  the 
central  building?  A  strong  committee  was  appointed  to 
deliberate  and  report  upon  this  problem,  and  a  new  and 
needed  form  of  Association  supervision  within  the  city  was 
planned.  I  was  vividly  reminded  of  some  lectures  on  Church 
History  from  Professor  Roswell  D.  Hitchcock  to  which,  years 
before  as  a  student,  I  had  listened.    In  these  the  origin  of  the 

» Pp.  56-70. 

251 


252  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

episcopal  system  was  traced  to  the  growth  of  the  early  Chris- 
tian Church  within  the  metropolitan  centers  of  the  Roman 
Empire.  In  each  city,  out  of  the  parent  church  as  root  and 
trunk,  were  developed  branches  over  which  the  pastor  of  the 
parent  church  exercised  authority  and  control.  This  authority 
soon  made  him  an  Episcopos  or  overseer  or  bishop  and  finally 
the  episcopal  system  of  church  government  emerged.  Whether 
a  similar  system  for  the  Association  would  result  from  this 
deliberation,  was  an  interesting  question. 

The  report  of  the  Committee,  as  modified  and  adopted, 
created  in  New  York  the  first  and  parent  metropolitan  organi- 
zation. The  Board  of  Directors  was  relieved  of  administering 
the  work  at  the  central  building.  This  center  or  unit  became 
known  as  "The  Twenty-third  Street  Branch"  and  the  Metro- 
politan Board  and  its  General  Secretary  were  placed  in  a  rela- 
tion of  equal  control  and  oversight  to  all  branches  and  their 
buildings.  This  precedent  was  soon  followed  in  Philadelphia, 
Chicago,  Brooklyn,  Buffalo,  Baltimore,  and  other  cities.  Each 
modified  the  New  York  plan  in  some  minor  details,  but  all 
centralized  control  and  supervision  in  a  metropolitan  board 
for  the  whole  city.  The  change  at  New  Y'^ork  led  the  Directors 
to  reelect  Elbert  Monroe  to  the  presidency. 

Thus  began  the  development  of  a  new  agency  of  Association 
supervision,  endowed  with  full  legal  authority  and  control 
over  local  Association  administration.  In  the  development 
by  this  metropolitan  agency  of  the  administration  of  its  local 
branches,  it  has  been  influenced  in  its  working  by  the  example 
and  spirit  of  deference  bred  in  the  older  International  and 
State  agencies  of  supervision — the  latter  being  without  au- 
thority and  yet  giving  a  supervision  which  has  exerted  upon 
the  local  Associations  which  created  it  a  virile,  helpful  influ- 
ence essential  to  the  best  development  of  local  Association 
work.  The  rise  and  vigor  of  metropolitan  supervision  also 
bears  witness  to  the  fact  that  not  yet  has  excessive  supervision 
been  created  within  the  North  American  Association  move- 
ment. The  growing  relation  to  one  another  of  these  two 
phases  of  supervision  is  certainly  worthy  of  study  and  of 
further  development  to  the  benefit  of  each.  Indeed,  in  the 
development  of  Association  polity  it  is  interesting  to  note  how 
emphasis  upon  the  autonomy  of  the  local  unit — whether  of  the 


LOCAL  ASSOCIATION  WORK  253 

entire  local  Association  or  its  branches — has  been  conserved 
and  safeguarded.  The  International  Convention,  on  its  part, 
has  stronglj^  fostered  the  growth  of  branch  organizations 
within  the  local  Associations.  In  1885  and  1889,  to  all  Asso- 
ciations with  branches  which  had  "a  distinct  roll  of  member- 
ship" was  granted  the  number  of  delegates  to  which  an  inde- 
pendent Association  of  equal  size  was  entitled.  And  in  1910 
the  Convention  voted  to  grant  to  each  metropolitan  Board  of 
Directors  a  representation  of  two  delegates. 

First,  Second,  and  Home  Offices  of  the  Committee 

After  forming  the  metropolitan  organization,  the  New  York 
Directors  deemed  it  desirable  to  locate  the  office  of  their  Gen- 
eral Secretary  outside  of  any  one  of  the  Association  buildings. 
In  seeking  a  new  location  near  the  Twenty-third  Street  build- 
ing, it  was  agreed  to  unite  in  one  suite  of  rooms  offices  for  the 
Metropolitan  Board  and  the  International  and  New  York 
State  Committees. 

For  eighteen  years  (1870-1887)  one  room  (20x18  feet)  in 
the  Twenty-third  Street  building  had  been  granted  without 
rent  to  the  International  Committee  as  its  office.  The  follow- 
ing vivid  picture  of  the  circumscribed  dimensions  of  the  Com- 
mittee's office  at  this  time  recently  came  to  me  in  a  letter  from 
my  friend,  P.  A.  Weiting,  for  years  a  valued  Office  Secretary 
of  the  Committee.  He  writes:  "It  was  just  thirty-five  years 
ago  this  very  day  (on  April  21,  1879)  that  I  became  your  office 
secretary.  ...  It  was  during  a  temporary  absence  of  Erskine 
Uhl.  In  those  days  a  stenographer  was  an  unknown  quantity, 
and  a  man  to  help  every  other  day  in  addressing  envelopes 
and  to  run  a  papyrograph,  was  as  much  extra  help  as  the 
Committee  could  afiford.  .  .  .  The  little  office  in  the  Twenty- 
third  Street  building,  with  its  access  through  one  door  to  the 
gallery  of  the  large  Association  Hall,  for  private  conferences, 
and  through  an  opposite  door  on  the  other  side  to  the  Lecture 
Room,  where  in  time  of  rush,  helpers  from  the  Bowery  Branch 
could  work,  was  very  small,  but  there  was  a  lot  of  Association 
history  made  there!" 

The  dimensions  and  the  equipment  of  the  office  and  the 
presence  of  other  occupants  in  it  had  induced  the  Committee, 
as  early  as  1881,  to  locate  for  me,  in  my  home  near  by  in  Fourth 


254  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Avenue,  a  private  office  where  my  work  of  correspondence  was 
accomplished,  at  first  performed  almost  wholly  by  my  own 
hand,  and  later  through  a  stenographer.  This  home  office  I 
occupied  from  1881  to  1898.  As  a  room  at  home  it  was  a  wel- 
come refuge  for  quiet  work  away  from  the  push  and  drive  of 
a  small  crowded  office.  Here  also  uninterrupted  interviews 
could  be  held  with  visitors  upon  important  errands.  During 
Chairman  Brainerd's  term,  ending  in  1892,  intercourse  with 
him  was  almost  entirely  confined  to  the  evening,  and  when  I 
was  in  the  city  most  of  the  evenings  were  spent  with  him  in 
the  library  at  his  residence,  only  a  few  steps  from  my  own 
door. 

On  one  floor  of  a  building  (25x50  feet)  adjoining  the  old 
Twenty-third  Street  building,  office  room  was  secured  for  the 
three  supervisory  agencies.  Metropolitan,  State,  and  Inter- 
national, and  as  its  staff  continued  to  grow,  our  Committee 
secured  a  second  floor  and  later  a  third  was  rented.  One  very 
pleasant  feature  of  the  new  arrangement  was  that  the  offices 
of  McBurney  and  of  the  International  and  State  Secretaries 
continued  close  to  one  another  in  the  same  building,  promoting 
for  all  of  us  a  delightful  fellowship  with  him  of  untold  value. 

Connection  with  Local  Work  in  Other  Cities 

When  the  first  two  International  Secretaries  began  their 
service  in  1868  and  18G9,  the  New  York  Association  stood 
alone  in  developing  the  fourfold  work. 

Problems  and  Progress  in  Chicago,  1870-1888 

Some  account  has  been  given  of  the  Committee's  approach 
with  the  message  of  this  broad  work  to  the  Chicago  Associa- 
tion and  of  my  visits  to  that  city  (1870,  '76,  '78,  and  '80). 2 
Allusion  has  also  been  made  to  the  strong  leadership  of  James 
L.  Houghteling,  Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  and  John  V.  Farwell,  Jr. 
This  leadership  was  strengthened  by  a  definite  agreement  en- 
tered into  by  these  three  influential  young  men  to  continue 
together  indefinitely  their  active  connection  with  the  Asso- 
ciation in  the  development  of  its  work.  When  they  informed 
me  of  this  agreement,  I  rejoiced  in  its  bright  promise  for  the 
Chicago  Association  and  was  vividly  reminded  of  the  rank 

*Pp.  66,  72,  151,  190. 


LOCAL  ASSOCIATION  WORK  255 

aud  quality  of  the  young  men  who  in  New  York,  some  dozen 
years  before  this,  had  organized  and  developed  the  fourfold 
work.  Fellowship  with  these  friends  in  Chicago  during  their 
years  of  strenuous  endeavor  yielded  me  one  of  the  supreme 
satisfactions  enjoyed  in  Association  work.  It  was  at  this 
time  (1882)  that  the  Chicago  Association  altered  the  consti- 
tutional definition  of  its  object.  To  the  words  "the  spiritual, 
mental,  and  social  condition  of  all  within  its  reach  irrespective 
of  age,  sex,  or  condition"  were  added  the  words  "but  especially 
of  young  men,"  and  a  few  years  later  were  substituted  for  the 
whole  phrase  the  words  now  in  universal  use  throughout  the 
brotherhood  "the  spiritual,  mental,  physical,  and  social  condi- 
tion of  young  men." 

During  the  fourth  Chicago  conference,  in  1881,  I  was  again 
the  guest  of  Mr.  Harvey  and  congratulated  him  most  heartily 
on  his  merited  success  in  passing  over  to  younger  men  who 
were  so  competent,  the  growing  Association  responsibilities 
of  the  work  in  Chicago. 

The  Chicago  parlor  conferences  of  previous  years  were  fol- 
lowed in  1882,  not  by  a  similar  meeting,  but  by  several  social 
receptions,  the  following  reference  to  which  I  find  in  a  family 
letter  of  that  period,  dated  Chicago,  February  3rd,  1882 : 

"I  reached  here  ten  days  ago  and  during  this  period  there 
have  been  held  in  the  parlors  of  five  leading  citizens,  receptions 
in  which  some  of  the  best  men  in  the  city — on  the  north  side, 
the  south  side,  the  west  side,  and  in  the  central  section — have 
met,  ostensibly  to  greet  me  as  a  guest  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  but  really  to  discover  that  some  of  the 
best  young  men  of  the  city  have  undertaken  a  strong  leadership 
of  our  work  in  Chicago.  The  result  is  that  this  work  is  being 
placed  on  a  better  basis  than  ever  before.  It  is  an  event  most 
significant  and  encouraging  for  our  brotherhood  in  all  sec- 
tions of  the  country.  In  each  succeeding  visit,  I  have  been 
more  and  more  deeply  impressed  with  this  wonderful  city,  our 
second  American  metropolis,  and  if  ever  on  this  continent  the 
railroad  and  the  telegraph  give  the  j)reeminence  to  a  city  off 
the  seaboard,  Chicago  seems  secure  of  attaining  that  distinc- 
tion." 

In  the  following  October  another  two  weeks  were  spent  in 
this  city,  busily  cooperating  in  an  effort  to  secure  the  fund 
voted  by  the  Directors  to  provide  for  a  complete  renovation 


256  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

of  the  Association  building — a  renovation  necessary  in  order 
to  put  in  operation  the  broader  work  demanded  by  the  changes 
announced  and  advocated  in  the  February  conferences.  This 
renovation  was  accomplished  only  as  a  first  step  toward  more 
adequate  equipment,  for  this  building  of  1882  could  not  be 
made  to  accommodate  such  a  fourfold  work  as  was  now  called 
for,  not  alone  for  this  city's  young  men,  but  for  the  yet  greater 
multitude  in  many  cities  throughout  the  country  which  look 
to  Chicago  for  leadership. 

To  secure  that  larger  building  in  the  near  future  there  was 
needed  a  Chicago  General  Secretary  from  among  the  ablest 
and  most  promising  men  in  our  brotherhood  and  our  Commit- 
tee was  now  asked  where  such  a  man  could  be  found.  Then 
followed  for  the  Committee's  secretarial  staff  and  Bureau  a 
painfully  protracted  period  of  search.  It  was  not  for  us  the 
only  time  of  humiliation,  disappointment,  and  patience  as  we 
sought  for  a  man  equal  to  the  growing  responsibilities  of  a 
commanding  General  Secretaryship.  Such  a  man  was  needed 
most  conspicuously  in  Chicago,  but  equally  in  other  important 
cities.  This  and  other  painful  experiences  were  also  deepening 
conviction  of  the  necessity  of  increasing  facilities  for  the 
training  of  Association  employed  oflflcers.  The  leaders  of  the 
Student  Movement  were  appealed  to  for  help.  Some  response 
came  and  has  ever  since  been  coming  from  that  quarter.  Effort 
by  agencies  already  in  operation  was  quickened  and  before 
this  period  of  waiting  on  behalf  of  Chicago  had  passed,  I  had 
taken  part  in  establishing  the  first  Secretarial  Training 
School. 

For  the  Association  leaders  in  Chicago  this  period  was  one 
of  trying  discipline.  At  the  Milwaukee  Convention  of  1883, 
as  already  described,^  Chicago  was  strongly  represented  and 
both  Houghteling  and  McCormick  became  members  of  the  In- 
ternational Committee  and  ex-President  Harvey  an  advisory 
member.  But  the  Convention  did  not  suggest  to  these  friends 
a  Secretary  of  the  rank  desired. 

McBurney  had  found  a  promising  associate  in  the  person  of 
James  McConaughy,  who  had  served  an  apprenticeship  of  six 
years,  first  in  the  International  office,  and  then  as  General 
Secretary  at  Harrisburg,  and  later  in  New  York  as  Secretary 

•Pp.  190,  191. 


LOCAL  ASSOCIATION  WORK  257 

of  the  Harlem  Branch.  He  was  proving  himself  to  be  the 
assistant  needed  for  the  too  heavy  burden  McBurney  was 
carrying — a  burden  under  which  even  his  strength  finally  gave 
way. 

During  the  winter  following  the  Milwaukee  Convention  I 
was  greatly  surprised  by  a  visit  of  the  three  friends  from 
Chicago.  They  had  come  to  New  York,  they  said,  on  only  one 
errand.  Their  sole  purpose  was  to  secure  as  General  Secretary 
for  their  city,  either  Robert  McBurney  or  James  McConaughy. 
They  did  not  propose  to  leave  New  York  till  their  errand  was 
accomplished !  They  asked :  "Is  it  fair  for  New  York  to  keep 
two  such  men,  when  Chicago  has  such  need  of  one  of  them? 
What  can  you  do  to  promote  our  success?"  Never  more  pain- 
fully than  in  this  emergency  did  I  feel  the  lack  of  the  men 
we  needed.  The  Associations  and  their  work  were  growing 
in  public  esteem  far  more  rapidly  than  we  could  find  qualified 
leaders. 

The  seriousness  of  this  call  was  at  once  recognized  by  Mc- 
Burne3\  If  it  summoned  either  of  the  two  men  who  had  been 
named,  he  felt  he  was  the  one  who  must  go.  He  visited  Chicago 
and  carefully  considered  whether  he  could  undertake  what 
had  been  suggested.  His  final  conclusion  was  unfavorable  to 
the  change.  Meanwhile  the  administration  of  a  growing  work 
was  continued  in  the  renovated  Chicago  building. 

In  December  of  the  same  year  (1884)  Mrs.  Morse  and  I 
spent  a  week  in  the  home  of  President  Houghteling.  The  time 
was  busily  occupied  in  promoting  the  work  and  in  a  consulta- 
tion concerning  plans  for  a  new  Association  building.  Other 
sites  were  considered,  but  the  present  modification  of  the  one 
then  occupied  was  finally  agreed  upon.  How  this  modification 
could  most  wisely  be  attempted  was  carefully  planned.  In  a 
consultation  with  friends  who  could  give  substantial  help,  the 
proposed  changes  were  deemed  practicable.  Any  further  effort 
to  secure  the  large  building  fund  required  was  postponed  until 
a  General  Secretary  could  be  secured.  In  April,  1886,  by  invi- 
tation of  the  Chicago  members,  a  well  attended  dinner  meeting 
of  the  International  Committee  was  held.  This  was  followed 
by  a  second  similar  meeting  in  November  and  both  helped 
forward  the  development  of  the  local  as  well  as  the  Interna- 
tional work,  while  the  search  for  a  Secretarj^  continued. 


258  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

In  the  meantime,  at  the  end  of  three  years'  active  service, 
President  Houghteling  felt  that  he  ought  to  be  succeeded  by 
one  of  the  tvi^o  friends  who  were  inseparably  associated  with 
him.  The  new  responsibilities  brought  upon  Cyrus  McCor- 
niick  by  the  recent  death  of  his  father  made  it  impossible  for 
him,  at  that  time,  to  accept  the  presidency  and  in  1884  the 
office  devolved  upon  the  third  and  equally  cai)able  member  of 
this  remarkable  triumvirate,  John  V.  Farwell,  Jr. 

The  long  and  patient  search  for  a  qualified  Secretary  ended 
in  1887,  by  a  selection  which  amply  justified  and  rewarded  all 
concerned  in  the  search,  and  I  experienced  an  immense  relief 
in  calling  to  the  attention  of  the  friends  in  Chicago  L.  Wilbur 
Messer,  then  Secretary  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  They 
became  satisfied,  as  we  were,  that  his  record  as  a  Secretary 
gave  bright  promise  of  his  being  the  man  of  qualification  we 
all  had  been  seeking.  I  had  the  great  privilege  of  introducing 
him  to  Mr.  McCormick  in  my  home  office  and  hearing  the  favor- 
able response  he  gave  to  the  call  from  Chicago.  There  he  soon 
began  a  very  remarkable  service  of  growing  efficiency  and  use- 
fulness a  service  already  of  thirty  years'  duration  and  giving 
bright  promise  of  many  better  years  to  come,  for  he  is  now 
the  successor  of  Robert  McBurney  and  Edwin  F.  See  as  our 
leader  in  the  group  of  metropolitan  General  Secretaries. 

Secretarial  Training 

The  Springfield  Training  School 

The  connection  of  Secretary  Jacob  T.  Bowne  for  two  years 
(1883-5)  with  the  Committee's  Secretarial  Bureau  has  been 
mentioned  elsewhere. 

To  Uhl  and  myself  his  efficient  labors  were  bringing  some 
relief,  when  one  day  McBurney  came  into  the  office  to  intro- 
duce his  friend  Rev.  David  Allen  Reed,  then  pastor  of  a  well 
known  working  church  in  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  where 
he  was  planting  a  "School  for  Christian  Workers."  The  train- 
ing of  Sunday  school  superintendents  and  others  in  church 
and  Christian  work  was  the  object  he  had  in  view,  and  in  the 
Armory  Hill  section  of  Springfield,  where  his  church  was 
located,  he  was  completing  quite  a  large  building  for  this 
school.     He  and  McBurney  had  known  each  other  for  some 


LOCAL  ASSOCIATION  WORK  259 

years.  He  was  a  friend  of  the  Association,  had  once  been 
actively  connected  with  it,  and  now  desired  to  establish  in  the 
new  school  a  department  for  training  Association  Secretaries. 
To  such  students  he  could  offer  the  use  of  the  building,  and 
the  biblical  and  other  instruction  given  to  all  who  came  for 
training.  For  instruction  of  secretarial  candidates  in  what 
was  peculiar  to  Association  work  he  must  look  to  Association 
leaders,  and  for  this  reason  he  had  sought  McBurney,  who 
now  brought  him  for  consultation  to  the  Secretarial  Bureau 
of  the  Committee.  We  all  felt  the  urgent  need  of  a  training 
agency  under  right  leadership.  This  school  might  furnish  it. 
Evidently  Reed  became  persuaded  he  had  been  led  to  the  right 
source  of  supply,  for  this  interview  soon  led  him  to  seek  an- 
other, in  which  he  and  McBurney  reported  that  they  had 
united  in  reaching  the  conclusion  that  Jacob  T.  Bowne  was 
preeminently  the  man  to  undertake  the  office  of  instructor  in 
the  Association  Department  of  the  Springfield  School.  Bowne 
was  distrustful  concerning  his  ability  to  accomplish  what  was 
expected  of  him,  and  we  were  very  reluctant  to  part  with  him. 
All  concerned,  however,  were  so  agreed  in  the  desire  to  im- 
prove what  seemed  to  be  a  rare  and  promising  opportunity 
that  he  accepted  the  position  and  in  September,  1885,  began 
his  work  as  instructor. 

In  1887,  a  call  was  given  to  my  brother  Oliver  C.  Morse  to 
become  an  instructor  and  the  secretary  of  the  school.  At  this 
time  he  was  on  the  staff  of  the  New  York  State  Committee. 
He  accepted  the  call  and  became  one  of  the  faculty,  and  the 
financial  mainstay  of  the  institution  during  the  twelve  years 
of  his  connection  with  it.  In  response  to  a  third  solicitation, 
I  joined  Mr.  Reed  in  consulting  with  Dr.  Luther  H.  Gulick — 
who,  like  Bowne,  was  a  member  of  the  Committee's  statf — ask- 
ing him  to  undertake,  without  leaving  the  work  of  the  Com- 
mittee, instruction  in  the  Physical  Department  of  the  school. 

Under  these  three  officers,  during  the  following  five  years, 
this  Secretarial  Training  School  was  developed  as  a  part  of 
the  School  for  Christian  Workers.  But  in  1890,  chiefly  through 
the  etforts  of  my  brother,  it  became  a  separate  school,  under 
its  three  leading  instructors  and  officers.  McBurney  was  a 
member  of  the  corporation  and  one  of  the  trustees  from  the 
beginning.     Soon  afterward  I  was  elected,  and  together  we 


260  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

attended  the  trustees'  meetings  in  Springfield  with  vigilant 
regularity  until  his  death  in  1898.  In  his  will  he  testified  to 
his  supreme  solicitude  for  this  factor  in  the  development  of 
the  Association  work,  by  making  to  the  school  his  only  Asso- 
ciation bequest,  |2,000.  This  sum  was  a  considerable  per- 
centage of  his  estate. 

After  McBurney's  death  I  continued  in  intimate  relation 
to  the  administration  of  the  school  for  several  years.  Then 
followed  a  period  during  which  I  was  not  able  to  give,  either 
in  ardent  sympathy  or  in  strong  cooperation,  the  time  and 
effort  which  was  very  enthusiastically  given  during  its  first 
twenty  years.  This  was  partly  due  to  the  fact  that  I  felt,  and 
expressed  frankly  to  my  friends  who  were  responsible  for  the 
management,  my  dissatisfaction  with  its  administration.  It 
seemed  to  me  that  in  the  instruction  given  it  was  being  un- 
necessarily swayed  away  from  that  cordial  harmony  with  the 
public  sentiment  of  the  whole  brotherhood  which  was  so 
strongly  maintained  during  its  early  management,  and  which 
called  forth  hearty  approval  from  successive  International 
Conventions  and  Secretaries'  Conferences. 

Although  passing  in  this  way  from  the  majority  to  the 
minority  in  management,  I  continued  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees,  confidently  believing  that  the  brotherhood  and  the 
school — now  become  a  college  under  the  presidency  of  my 
friend.  Dr.  Lawrence  L.  Doggett — would  ultimately  return  to 
their  former  happy  relations,  an  expectation  in  which  it  seems 
as  if  the  friends  of  the  school  and  the  Associations  are  not  to 
be  disappointed. 

The  Secretarial  Bureau 

The  void  created  by  the  resignation  of  Secretary  Bowne  was 
temporarily  filled  by  Uhl  and  his  ofiice  helpers  until  in  1889 
Bowne's  competent  acceptable  successor  was  secured.  Of  him 
in  1895,  I  reported  to  the  Convention :  "John  Glover  has  had 
entire  charge  of  the  delicate  and  responsible  correspondence 
connected  with  the  Secretarial  Bureau  of  the  Committee,  keep- 
ing the  list  and  register  of  the  General  Secretaries  and  physi- 
cal directors  upon  the  whole  field,  recording  all  secretarial 
changes,  responding  to  applications  for  or  from  Secretaries 
and  candidates.    Personal  interviews  occupy  a  large  share  of 


LOCAL  ASSOCIATION  WORK  261 

his  time.  This  varied  and  difficult  service  he  has  rendered 
most  acceptably,  seeking  and  receiving  the  cooperation  of  his 
associates." 

The  Secretaryship  As  a  Vocation 

For  thirty  years  now  the  sphere,  activities,  and  relationship 
of  the  Association  employed  officer  had  been  getting  definition 
by  the  men  of  the  vocation.  During  all  this  period  the  best 
of  these  Secretaries  had  been  meeting  in  annual  conferences. 
Their  chief  theme  had  been  their  own  office  and  work.  Mc- 
Burney  ranked  among  them  preeminently  as  leader  and  ex- 
emplar. They  recognized  that  the  laymen  volunteers  who  had 
organized  and  during  its  infancy  had  developed  the  Associa- 
tion had  called  on  them  for  their  helii,  not  to  exercise  authority 
and  control,  but  to  undertake  that  part  in  the  leadership 
which  could  be  performed  only  by  a  class  of  officers  who  could 
give  their  entire  time  and  attention  to  the  work.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  the  secretarial  period,  during  the  sixties,  the  local 
General  Secretary  was  a  voting  Director.  McBurney  was  a 
Director  of  this  class  from  1863  to  1882,  his  first  twenty  years 
in  office.  But  gradually  both  laymen  and  Secretaries  agreed 
that  it  was  no  impairment  of  his  leadership  for  the  local  Secre- 
tary to  be  without  vote  as  to  authority  and  control.  After 
1882,  McBurney  ceased  to  be  a  voting  Director,  but  the  last 
fifteen  years  of  his  secretaryship  (1883-98)  were  the  years  of 
his  strongest,  most  achieving  leadership.  He  was  not  uncon- 
scious of  deficiencies  in  this  and  other  directions.  But  at  the 
end  he  could  truthfully  testify :  Not  as  though  I  fully  attained 
and  was  perfect  in  this  endeavor,  but  I  did  press  toward  the 
mark  for  the  prize  of  our  upward  calling — a  calling  to  leader- 
ship achieved  without  authority  and  through  service,  accord- 
ing to  the  command  of  Him  who  Himself  came  not  to  be  served 
but  to  serve.  He  and  his  fellow  Secretaries  found  in  that 
sort  of  service  a  path  to  the  leadership  desired  from  them. 
By  moral,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  suasion  they  sought  to 
command  the  intelligence  and  conscience  of  those  in  authority. 
It  was  by  ministry  as  servants,  rather  than  by  being  minis- 
tered to  as  men  possessed  of  authority  and  control,  that  they 
sought  to  obey  the  command  of  the  Supreme  Teacher  when 
he  said :  "The  rulers  of  the  Gentiles  .  .  .  exercise  authority 


262  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

over  them.  It  shall  not  be  so  among  you,  but  whosoever  would 
be  great  among  you  shall  be  your  servant." 

The  first  six  years  of  John  Glover  in  the  work  of  the  Secre- 
tarial Bureau  were  the  beginning  of  a  patient,  diligent,  un- 
obtrusive, invaluable  service,  in  which  all  the  Committee's  staff 
and  the  State  and  local  Secretaries  have  harmoniously  co- 
operated with  him.  He  has  continued  this  service  now  (1917) 
for  twenty-eight  years  and  is  still  at  work  in  his  office  with 
unabated  energy.  When  he  began,  the  number  of  Association 
employed  officers  on  the  roll  was  970  and  now  (1917)  it  is 
more  than  five  thousand. 

As  Secretary  Charles  K.  Ober  has  developed  the  Fellowship 
Plan  for  recruiting  college  students  for  the  secretaryship 
(1908-'17),  he  has  joined  Glover  in  the  Secretarial  Bureau. 
Since  1915,  under  General  Secretary  Mott,  the  staff  of  the 
Bureau  has  been  further  increased  by  the  addition  of  Raymond 
P.  Kaighn,  as  Senior  Secretary,  and  the  enlistment,  through 
Charles  Ober,  of  Paul  Super,  with  special  reference  to  the  pro- 
motion by  him  of  Training  Centers  in  the  local  Associations. 
This  timely  and  wise  enlargement  of  the  Bureau  enables  it  to 
keep  pace  with  the  present  (1917)  remarkable  extension  of  the 
Association  Movement. 

The  Chicago  School 

Four  or  five  years  after  the  school  at  Springfield  was 
started,  I  was  consulted  by  the  Directors  of  the  Western  Secre- 
tarial Institute  at  Lake  Geneva,  concerning  their  enterprising 
project  of  beginning  in  the  Chicago  Association  Building  a 
second  Training  School,  and  I  was  glad  to  be  chosen  a  trustee 
of  that  institution.  The  position  was  accepted  with  the  hope 
and  plan  of  rendering  service  to  both  schools.  But  at  this 
time  burdens  of  official  responsibility,  which  could  not  be  dele- 
gated, made  it  impracticable  for  me  to  render  this  service, 
and  much  to  my  regret  and  disappointment,  after  a  few  years 
my  official  connection  with  that  school  w^as  given  iip.  I  have 
been  deeply  interested  in  its  steady  growth  into  a  college  and 
in  the  indispensable  educational  work  which  it  has  accom- 
plished, keeping  pace  with  the  develoj^ment  of  the  Associations 
in  their  varied  work  among  young  men. 

These  two  schools  have  become  strong  reenforcements  of 


LOCAL  ASSOCIATION  WORK  263 

the  Secretarial  Bureau,  the  International  Committee  and  its 
staff,  the  Emploj-ed  Officers'  Conference,  and  the  North  Ameri- 
can Association  Secretaries  in  their  united  efforts  to  supply 
the  demand  for  trained  employed  officers.  The  demand  has 
been  too  large  and  too  urgent  to  be  fully  supplied  by  what  the 
two  colleges  could  furnish,  but  their  contribution  has  been 
invaluable. 

In  urgent  need  of  further  help,  Association  workers  have 
been  glad,  in  later  years,  to  welcome  the  effective  cooperation 
of  the  Summer  Schools,  the  Training  Centers,  and  also  the 
Fellowship  Plan,  with  its  apprenticeship  feature  wrought  out 
by  Charles  K.  Ober,  comrade  and  successor  of  George  A.  Hall 
as  a  "discoverer  of  Secretaries,"  and  his  acceptable  associate, 
Paul  Super. 

Specialization  on  the  Four  Features  of  the  Fourfold  Work 
As  early  as  1870  the  fourfold  work  as  a  unit  had  been  con- 
spicuously introduced  into  the  program  of  the  city  Asso- 
ciation. The  day  of  specialization  upon  any  one  of  the  four 
features,  by  a  class  of  Christian  workers  set  apart  and  trained 
for  the  purpose,  arrived  only  after  fifteen  years,  during  which 
another  kind  of  specialization  or  extension  of  Association 
work  had  been  auspiciously  begun  among  various  important 
groups  or  classes  of  young  men  including  college  students, 
railroad  employes,  German  speaking,  and  colored  young  men. 

Physical  Department 

The  physical  feature  of  the  fourfold  work  was  the  first  to 
attract  and  receive  this  emphasis.  From  the  beginning  the 
need  of  trained  and  devoted  Christian  workers  in  this  depart- 
ment was  urgently  felt.  The  gymnasium  rapidly  became  the 
most  popular  agency  of  the  city  Associations,  attracting  to 
the  buildings  fifty  per  cent  of  the  young  men  and  boys  seeking 
membership.  In  1885,  fifteen  years  after  the  first,  with  a 
competent  Superintendent,  had  been  opened  in  New  York,  one 
hundred  Association  gymnasiums  were  in  operation,  but  only 
thirty  Superintendents  had  been  secured.  None  of  these  came 
to  the  Secretaries'  Conferences  as  Christian  workers  and  em- 
ployed officers.  At  these  meetings  Secretaries  confessed  with 
sorrow  their  inability  to  secure  such  very  desirable  Superin- 
tendents, and  many  friends  were  raising  the  question:  Will 


264  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

the  gymnasium  secularize  the  Associatiou,  or  can  and  will  the 
Association  Christianize  the  gymnasium? 

It  was  in  these  years  of  solicitude  that  the  forerunner  of 
the  Christian  Physical  Department  Secretary  appeared.  In 
the  autumn  of  1880,  when  the  program  of  the  Convention  of  the 
following  spring  was  being  prepared,  Secretary  M.  R.  Deming 
of  Boston  called  at  our  office  to  report:  "We  have  now  in  the 
Boston  gymnasium  a  Superintendent  who  is  also  a  Christian 
worker,  and  who  is  on  the  floor  and  mat  of  the  gymnasium 
primarily  to  promote  the  coming  of  young  men  into  the  Chris- 
tian life."  Immediately  I  asked  if  this  Superintendent  would 
come  to  the  International  Convention  next  May,  at  Cleveland, 
and  report  his  work. 

To  hear  this  report  that  Convention  adjourned,  during  an 
afternoon  session,  and,  leaving  the  church  in  which  it  was 
meeting,  reassembled  in  a  large  hall.  Upon  the  platform,  after 
making  an  effective  address,  Robert  J.  Roberts — who  still  con- 
tinues (1917)  an  instructor  on  the  floor  of  the  Boston  gym- 
nasium— exhibited  to  the  delegates  the  Roberts  dumb-bell  drill 
by  leading  a  class,  of  which  Secretary  Deming  was  a  member. 
This  was  a  new  idea  to  most  of  the  delegates,  as  well  as  to  the 
General  Secretary.  It  was  the  first  time  the  Convention  had 
made  room  in  its  program  for  a  presentation  of  the  work  of 
the  Physical  Department.  Later,  on  the  floor  of  the  New 
York  gymnasium,  I  became  thoroughly  acquainted  with  this 
form  of  exercise  and  its  veteran  promoter,  and  for  over  thirty 
years  have  experienced  untold  physical  benefit  from  the  daily 
practice  of  his  drill  without  the  dumb-bells. 

Roberts  continued  his  exemplary  work  as  a  model  gymna- 
sium leader,  seeking  to  make  "all  exercises  safe,  short,  easy, 
beneficial,  and  pleasing."  He  coined  the  expression,  "body 
building,"  which  correctly  describes  the  Association  method 
in  training  the  body  for  efficiency,  not  making  bodily  strength 
an  end  in  itself.  His  example  was  felt  as  a  strong  influence 
toward  the  betterment  of  Association  Physical  Work. 

It  was  not  until  1888  that  seventeen  Gymnasium  Superin- 
tendents, or  as  they  have  been  called  since  1889 — Christian 
Physical  Directors — came  to  a  Secretaries'  Conference,  and 
were  welcomed  as  fellow  Christian  workers.  It  was  a  mistake 
for  them  to  take  the  name  "Director."    They  should  be  known 


LOCAL  ASSOCIATION  WORK  265 

as  Secretaries  of  the  Physical  Department.  To  the  name  of 
Director  the  laymen  of  the  movement  have  an  older  and  su- 
perior title.  For  fifteen  years  this  conference  had  been  train- 
ing Secretaries  by  the  contact  of  discussion  and  fellowship. 
At  Harrisburg  in  1886,  216  of  these  employed  officers  were 
present.  After  1888  the  Christian  Physical  Directors  became 
an  important  group. 

First  International  Physical  Work  Secretary 

The  leader  among  this  first  group,  who  was  also  the  cause 
of  their  coming,  was  Dr.  Luther  H.  Gulick,  among  the  first 
gifts  of  the  medical  profession  to  the  Physical  Department  of 
the  Association  brotherhood.  McBurney  and  I  became  ac- 
quainted with  him  in  1886  while  he  was  a  medical  student  in 
New  York  City,  and  learned  from  him  that  in  his  medical 
studies  his  greatest  interest  related  to  body  building,  and  to 
exercise  according  to  the  laws  of  health  and  hygiene.  The 
prevention  more  than  the  cure  of  disease  challenged  his  atten- 
tion and  investigation.  Before  coming  to  New  York  he  had 
been  connected  with  a  small  Association  in  the  West,  and  had 
helped  in  its  Physical  Work.  Of  the  Association  gymnasium 
and  its  health-giving  uses  in  the  line  of  exercise  he  had  the 
same  opinion  as  had  Roberts.  He  appreciated  the  over- 
emphasis hitherto  given  in  our  gymnasiums  to  athletic  feats, 
and  heartily  believed  in  a  change.  From  us  he  received  every 
encouragement  we  could  give. 

He  was  the  son  of  a  missionary  and  belonged  to  a  family 
eminent  and  well  represented  on  the  foreign  mission  field. 
The  call  to  that  field  was  under  favorable  consideration  by 
him,  but  his  conception  of  what  was  needed,  and  could  be 
accomplished  at  home  by  a  just  emphasis  upon,  and  reverence 
for  the  physical  man,  led  him  in  October,  1887,  to  begin  a  life 
work  in  this  direction.  He  had  entered  Association  work  as 
an  employed  officer  at  the  West  early  in  1886,  but  in  the 
autumn  of  that  year  came  to  New  York  to  study  medicine  and 
consented  to  devote  a  part  of  his  time  to  promoting  Associa- 
tion Physical  Work  for  the  International  Committee,  as  its 
first  Secretary  in  that  department.  In  February,  1887,  he 
read  a  paper  before  the  New  York  State  Convention  making 
an  earnest,  thoughtful  plea  for  "reaching  spiritually  members 


266  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

using  the  gymnasium,"  and  for  securing  "earnest  Christian 
Gymnasium  Superintendents."  This  was  the  year  in  which 
I  attended  the  Twenty-third  Street  gymnasium,  learned  the 
Koberts  dumb-bell  drill,  and  became  for  a  time  one  of  the 
leaders'  corps. 

In  conferring  with  him  about  his  convictions,  as  a  Student 
Volunteer  for  foreign  missions,  I  was  vividly  reminded  of 
intercourse  ten  years  before  with  Wishard — the  other  Luther 
on  our  force — and  cited  to  Gulick  the  experience  of  this  prede- 
cessor who  was  already  numerously  represented  in  mission 
lands,  and  who  was  then  planning  a  long  tour  on  that  field, 
in  the  interest  of  placing  upon  it  many  more  Christian  work- 
ers. During  the  recent  (1910-1917)  achievements  of  our  Physi- 
cal Department  Secretaries  in  Asia,  I  have  often  recalled  the 
missionary  conviction  of  this  hindered  Student  Volunteer  and 
first  Physical  Department  Secretary  of  the  International 
Committee.  After  Gulick  had  been  with  the  Committee  a  year 
he  began  to  serve  also  as  an  associate  instructor  with  Robert  J. 
Roberts  in  the  Springfield  Training  School,  where  he  became 
the  head  of  the  department.  In  both  positions  he  was  a  pioneer 
who  thoroughly  mastered  the  fundamental  purpose  of  his  de- 
partment and  gave  wise  initial  direction  to  its  development. 

At  the  International  Convention  of  1889  he  read  a  forcible, 
thoughtful  paper  entitled,  "Our  New  Gymnastics,"  showing 
in  a  way  to  produce  a  lasting  impression,  (1)  that  these  gj'm- 
nastics  of  the  Association  promoted  an  education  of  the  phj'si- 
cal  powers  in  their  relation  to  the  whole  man — body,  mind, 
and  spirit;  (2)  that  such  an  education,  by  being  related  to  the 
other  parts  of  a  man,  is  more  than  simply  physical,  and  re- 
lated only  to  bodily  health;  (3)  that  this  education  is  needed 
by  us  more  than  it  was  needed  by  our  ancestors;  and  (4)  that 
the  methods  of  these  "New  Gymnastics"  are  thoroughly 
scientific. 

This  paper  or  treatise  was  an  event  of  decided  influence  in 
shaping,  under  leadership  by  its  author  and  his  successors,  the 
entire  Physical  Department  of  the  Association.  The  use  of 
the  triangle  as  an  Association  emblem  was  due  to  the  influence 
and  suggestion  of  this  paper  and  its  author.  By  his  double 
relation,  Dr.  Gulick  promoted  in  the  school  the  training  of 
Physical  Department   Secretaries,  and  in   the   International 


LOCAL  ASSOCIATION  WORK  267 

Secretaryship  the  calliug  and  settlement  of  these  trained  men 
by  Associations  in  need  of  them. 

In  his  first  snmmer  (1887)  at  the  Training  School  he  called 
the  first  of  a  series  of  Summer  Schools  which  were  attended 
by  almost  all  Association  Gymnasium  Superintendents  then 
in  office.  By  this  means,  for  a  term  of  years  (1887-1903)  he 
promoted  among  them  a  scientific  and  Christian  spirit  in  the 
work  of  their  vocation.  In  1892  a  Summer  Conference  of 
Physical  Directors  was  developed  by  him  in  connection  with 
both  the  Secretaries'  Conference  and  the  Springfield  School. 
Later,  in  1903,  under  his  successor,  Dr.  George  J.  Fisher,  this 
grew  into  the  Physical  Directors'  Society. 

In  1895  the  time  was  ripe  for  organizing  the  Athletic  League 
of  the  North  American  Associations.  At  Dr.  Gulick's  sugges- 
tion it  was  authorized  by  the  International  Convention  of  that 
year,  and  Gulick  became  Secretary.  The  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee's Physical  Department,  Frederick  B.  Pratt,  was  chair- 
man ex-officio  of  the  League's  governing  council.  Dr.  Gulick's 
relation  to  the  Committee  and  the  Springfield  School  con- 
tinued until  1904.  In  both  positions  he  was  preeminently  a 
pioneer  who  clearly  discovered  the  enduring  quality  inherent 
in  this  new  work.  He  also  saw  with  far  more  clearness  and 
conviction  than  I  could  at  that  time,  that  it  was  not  his  mis- 
sion to  do  more  than  the  work  of  a  pioneer.  What  he  had 
achieved  with  capacity  and  thoroughness  opened  for  him,  he 
thought,  a  door  into  other  positions  which  were  attractive  to 
him  because  the  remarkable  versatility  of  his  talents  gave  him 
ability  to  achieve  there  also,  on  other  than  Association  lines, 
what  was  of  genuine  value  in  physical  betterment  work.  But 
he  did  not  leave  Association  work  until  he  had  made  sure  that 
there  was  available,  for  each  position  he  held,  a  successor 
trained  and  able  to  take  up  the  work  at  the  point  to  which 
he  had  successfully  carried  it. 

He  was  succeeded  at  the  school  by  his  "star  pupil"  Dr. 
James  H.  McCurdy,  and  in  the  International  Secretaryship, 
on  his  own  recommendation,  by  Dr.  George  J.  Fisher.  Both 
have  carried  forward  and  developed  most  admirably  the  work 
begun  by  Dr.  Gulick.  Dr.  Fisher  formed  the  Physical  Direc- 
tors' Society  and  its  strong  program,  and  has  been  its  Presi- 
dent to  the  present  time  (1917).    He  has  also  proved  himself 


268  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

a  capable  leader  in  the  extension  of  the  Physical  Work  beyond 
the  Association  buildings  and  membership  in  the  playground 
movement,  swimming  campaigns,  and  other  forms  of  com- 
munity betterment.  To  the  extension  of  our  physical  work  on 
the  foreign  field  he  has  also  rendered  timely  and  invaluable 
service.  In  1917  he  is  serving  on  the  New  York  State  Military 
Training  Commission  promoting  physical  training  in  all  the 
schools  of  this  state. 

Educational  Work 

Five  years  after  the  beginning  of  specialization  upon  the 
Physical  Department,  in  1890,  a  fellow  Secretary  called  my 
attention  to  the  need  of  a  similar  development  of  the  Educa- 
tional Department. 

WeidensalFs  health  had  been  seriously  affected  by  over- 
work, and  in  1888  Brainerd  began  to  complain  to  me  that  he 
could  not  induce  Weidensall  to  take  the  rest  which  he  evi- 
dently needed.  He  had  been  sent  to  the  Pacific  Coast  with 
instructions  not  to  engage  in  work.  But  the  temptation  to 
give  help  where  it  was  sorely  needed  had  made  him  disregard 
these  instructions.  In  his  absence  from  the  central  West, 
John  R.  Hague,  for  some  years  the  acceptable  Secretary  of  the 
St.  Paul  Association,  was  enlisted  as  a  member  of  the  Inter- 
national force,  early  in  September  1888.  He  was  a  friend 
and  a  schoolmate  of  the  sons  of  Charles  Pratt,  the  honored 
founder  of  the  Pratt  Institute  in  Brooklyn,  who  was  then  com- 
pleting the  establishment  of  that  admirable  institution. 

John  Hague  in  his  visitation  of  the  Associations  became 
especially  interested  in  their  evening  class  work.  He  craved 
for  this  department  such  specialization  by  the  International 
Committee  as  was  being  given  to  the  Physical  Work,  and 
became  interested  in  investigating  and  reporting  what  local 
Associations  had  accomplished  on  this  line.  I  called  his  atten- 
tion to  what  had  been  already  accomplished  in  evening  classes 
by  the  New  York  Association  even  before  the  erection  of  its 
building  on  Twenty-third  Street,  and  how  in  that  building, 
with  its  larger  accommodations,  the  classes  were  more  numer- 
ous, and  as  early  as  1874  were  attended  by  two  hundred  and 
twenty-nine  students.  In  1883  it  occurred  to  McBurney  to 
send  out  a  questionnaire  asking  each  member  to  state  any 


LOCAL  ASSOCIATION  WORK  269 

benefit  derived  from  attendance  upon  the  classes.  To  this 
388  replies  were  received,  so  full  of  encouragement  and  sug- 
gestion that  in  1885  another  questionnaire  was  sent  out  more 
widely  among  the  members,  asking  in  what  lines  they  desired 
opportunities  for  self-improvement.  Six  hundred  and  eleven 
members  responded  with  suggestions  which  led  to  the  organi- 
zation of  an  excellent  orchestra  and  to  the  opening  of  classes 
in  mechanical  and  free  hand  drawing,  to  which  came  young 
men  engaged  in  37  different  occupations.  To  accommodate 
the  growing  work,  rooms  on  the  upper  floors  of  the  building 
were  appropriated,  for  which  the  Association  had  been  receiv- 
ing an  annual  rental  of  11,500. 

To  the  Convention  of  1889  201  Associations  reported  14,000 
students  in  evening  classes,  receiving  instruction  in  fifteen 
subjects.  Of  these  students  1,676  were  taught  in  twelve  of 
these  subjects  in  the  five  branches  of  the  New  York  City  Asso- 
ciation, in  Brooklyn  800  in  twelve  subjects,  and  in  Chicago 
500  in  seven  subjects. 

Secretary  Hague  thought  that  through  the  agency  of  the 
International  Committee  this  work  could  be  carried  on  in 
many  more  Associations  than  were  now  promoting  it.  This 
suggestion  strongly  appealed  to  me  and  in  looking  for  the 
financial  help  necessary,  we  were  led  to  approach  Mr.  Charles 
Pratt,  to  whose  attention  some  time  before  I  had  already 
brought  the  entire  International  work. 

The  buildings  of  the  Pratt  Institute  in  Brooklyn  had  been 
completed  in  1887.  Mr.  Pratt  was  favorably  impressed  by  our 
presentation  of  the  Educational  Work  already  attempted  by 
the  Associations,  and  he  recognized  our  need  of  expert  educa- 
tional help  and  of  the  supervision  which  we  were  anxious  to 
provide.  He  had  an  impression  that  an  extension  of  what  he 
was  accomplishing  on  educational  lines  in  Brooklyn  might  be 
accomplished  through  a  cooperation  on  his  part  with  the  Asso- 
ciations and  their  agent,  the  International  Committee.  After 
the  opening  of  the  Institute  several  interviews  were  held  with 
Mr.  Pratt  and  his  son  Frederick  B.  Pratt,  who  was  associated 
with  his  father  in  charge  of  the  Institute.  The  sudden  death 
of  Mr.  Pratt  in  1891  occurred  before  any  definite  conclusion 
had  been  reached,  but  in  his  desk  was  found  a  letter  addressed 
to  me,  in  which  he  offered  1 1,000  to  the  Committee  as  a  per- 


270  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

sonal  contribution  in  aid  of  its  work.  His  sons  sent  this  gift 
to  our  Treasurer,  and  Frederick  B.  Pratt  accepted  an  election 
as  a  member  of  the  Committee  in  1892.  He  also  became  the 
first  chairman  of  its  sub-committee  on  Educational  Work — a 
position  which  he  has  continued  to  hold  for  the  past  twenty-six 
years  (1917). 

Chairman  Pratt's  first  solicitude  was  to  secure,  as  the  Edu- 
cational Secretary  of  the  Committee,  a  properly  qualified 
man  who  had  had  the  experience  needed  both  as  an  educa- 
tionist and  as  an  Association  worker.  Not  finding  one  with 
this  double  qualification,  the  question  was  raised:  ''Shall 
we  look  for  an  Association  man  who  might  gain  qualification 
afterward  as  an  educationist,  or  for  a  man  of  educational  ex- 
perience, to  whom  will  be  given  time  and  opportunity  to  learn 
of  Association  principles  and  methods?"  It  was  the  latter 
alternative  which  was  resorted  to,  and  after  more  than  a  year 
of  search  Chairman  Pratt,  making  use  of  his  better  knowledge 
of  the  educational  field,  discovered  late  in  1892  a  promising 
candidate  at  Fargo  in  the  State  University  of  Dakota. 

As  Dr.  Gulick  had  come  to  us  from  the  medical  profession, 
now  from  the  teacher's  profession  the  Committee  received,  in 
George  B.  Hodge,  an  instructor  of  normal  school  training. 
He  at  once  laid  before  the  Committee  a  carefully  prepared 
statement  of  his  conception  of  the  new  work  in  the  new  field, 
to  which  he  had  been  called.  It  had  been  drawn  up  by  him, 
according  to  our  request,  before  his  investigation  of  the  work 
already  accomplished  by  the  Associations.  On  the  basis  of 
this  statement,  and  in  accord  with  his  own  preference,  he  be- 
gan a  careful  visitation  and  study  of  what  was  being  achieved 
in  Associations  where  the  best  work  on  this  line  was  accom- 
plished. By  the  Association  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  where  David  A. 
Sinclair  had  been  the  remarkably  efiicient  Secretary  since 
1871,  more  was  being  accomplished  in  this  line  for  young  men 
than  by  any  other  Association  in  a  city  of  that  size.  Mr. 
Hodge's  visit  was  the  beginning  of  an  investigation  which 
made  him  thoroughly  acquainted  with  what  had  been  accom- 
plished, not  only  in  educational  class  work  but  also  in  the 
Reading  Room,  Library,  Literary  Class,  Lecture  Bureau,  and 
kindred  activities.  This  investigation  somewhat  modified  his 
original  plans,  and  by  patient,  strenuous  endeavor  he  began 


LOCAL  ASSOCIATION  WORK  271 

to  gain  that  growing  confidence  of  the  Committee  and  of  the 
brotherhood  in  this  work,  which  he  continued  to  deserve  and 
enjoy  for  over  twenty-four  years  of  remarliable  achievement. 

In  this  service  he  developed  the  finest  capacity  to  serve  the 
brotherhood  in  the  establishment  of  a  new  and  urgently  needed 
Bureau  of  historical  records  and  reports.  His  consent  to 
undertake  this  service  for  the  whole  movement,  including  a 
masterly  editing  and  enlargment  of  the  Year  Book,  led  the 
Committee  to  secure  in  1916  as  his  very  worthy  successor 
William  Orr,  for  many  years  connected  with  the  Associa- 
tion movement  and  also  with  the  cause  and  work  of  educa- 
tion as  a  commissioner  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of 
Education.  The  growth  of  its  Educational  Dei^artment  has 
paralleled  the  remarkable  growth  of  the  Association  in  other 
features  of  its  varied  work.  In  1917  over  83,000  pupils  engaged 
in  over  200  occupations  were  being  taught  in  over  200  subjects 
by  faculties  composed  of  nearly  2,500  teachers,  supervised  by 
212  Educational  Secretaries  or  heads  of  the  local  departments. 
The  Boston  Educational  Work  enrolling  4,200  students,  has 
been  recently  (1917)  organized  and  incorporated  as  "The 
Northeastern  College,"  and  its  secretary,  Frank  Speare,  has 
been  installed  in  the  office  of  president  of  the  institution  thus 
created,  in  which  chief  emphasis  is  placed  on  that  vocational 
education  which  from  the  beginning  has  been  the  objective  of 
this  department  of  the  Association  work. 

Religions  Work  and  Specialization  Upon  It 

For  many  years  I  shared  with  other  Association  leaders 
their  serious  hesitation  about  setting  apart  Secretaries  to 
devote  themselves  wholly  to  the  spiritual  or  technically  Keli- 
gious  Work.  All  the  fourfold  work  was  religious  in  the  intent 
of  the  worker  and  leader,  volunteer  or  employed.  To  set  apart 
a  class  who  alone  should  give  themselves  wholly  to  Bible  work 
and  evangelistic  effort  might  lead  other  workers,  each  in  his 
own  department,  to  feel  not  a  quickened  but  a  lessened  re- 
sponsibility for  effort  on  these  lines.  This  hesitation,  how- 
ever, only  postponed  experimental  specialization  in  this  direc- 
tion. 

As  already  mentioned^  the  first  convention  action  in  favor 

4  p.  217. 


272  MY  LIFE  WlTH  YOUNG  MEN 

of  setting  apart  an  International  Secretary  to  Bible  study 
and  work  was  taken  at  Mobile  in  1897,  with  the  hearty  co- 
operation of  some  who  had  heretofore  been  most  hesitant 
about  such  a  new  departure. 

In  the  summer  following  the  Mobile  Convention,  at  the  sug- 
gestion and  call  of  Secretary  Glen  Shurtlefif  of  Cleveland,  I 
attended,  with  a  group  of  twenty-one  Association  Secretaries 
— Local,  State,  and  International — a  conference  upon  the  Keli- 
gious  Work  of  the  Associations  in  the  realm  of  Bible  study  and 
evangelism.  We  spent  several  days  together  in  unhurried 
deliberation.  Every  discussion  of  a  topic  or  phase  of  the  work, 
before  we  closed  it,  was  carefully  reduced  to  a  written  conclu- 
sion or  proposition  upon  which  we  became  unanimously 
agreed.  On  our  return  I  remember  McBurney  and  See  called 
together  their  fellow  Secretaries  of  New  York,  Brooklyn,  and 
vicinity,  and  placing  upon  the  blackboard  the  conclusions  or 
propositions  we  had  arrived  at,  sought  in  brotherly  discussion 
and  obtained  from  them  the  same  enthusiastic  assent  which 
had  been  given  in  our  conference.  For  this  meeting  of  twenty- 
one,  and  the  permanent  good  resulting  from  it,  we  all  felt 
deeply  indebted  to  the  leadership  of  Glen  Shurtleff  of  Cleve- 
land. He  was  one  of  the  wise,  strong,  progressive  men  in  the 
city  secretaryship,  whose  service  was  given,  as  occasion  and 
opportunity  offered,  to  the  whole  brotherhood.  This  was  one 
out  of  many  instances  of  his  wise  seizure  of  a  well  chosen 
opportunity  to  render  such  a  timely  service  to  all  his  fellow- 
workers. 

In  the  following  spring,  the  year  of  McBurney's  last  long 
illness,  the  New  York  State  Committee  called  a  conference 
which,  under  the  leadership  of  Secretary  Edwin  F.  See  of 
Brooklyn,  and  Fred  S.  Goodman,  State  Secretary  of  New 
York,  prepared  the  material  of  a  "Prospectus"  of  the  Bible 
Study  Department.  In  it  could  be  found  the  conclusions 
reached  by  the  conference  of  1897,  It  was  adopted  and  issued 
by  the  International  Committee  as  a  first  attempt  to  crystal- 
lize in  such  a  publication  "the  growing  sentiment  among  the 
Associations  in  favor  of  progressive  and  uniform  Bible  study 
on  a  broad  basis." 

The  first  prospectus  was  limited  to  Bible  work.  Its  suc- 
cessors treated  of  a  fourfold  Religious  Work  of    (1)    Bible 


LOCAL  ASSOCIATION  WORK  273 

Study;  (2)  aggressive  religious  meetings;  (3)  organized  per- 
sonal Christian  effort  ''in  the  sphere  of  the  daily  calling";  (4) 
work  for  young  men  in  non-Christian  lands.  To  carry  out  this 
program  there  were  added  in  1899  to  the  staff  of  the  Committee 
and  to  its  Field  Department  Fred  B.  Smith,  for  the  better 
promotion  and  organization  of  evangelistic  work,  and  in  1901 
Fred  S.  Goodman  for  the  Bible  work.  Don  O.  Shelton  also 
cooperated  efficiently  in  this  phase  of  the  work  for  over  a  year. 

In  1901  the  special  Religious  Work  Department  was  formed, 
with  these  three  Secretaries  on  its  staff.  From  the  beginning, 
doing  religious  work  in  a  growing  variety  of  ways  had  been 
characteristic  of  Association  workers  throughout  all  their 
activities.  Now  the  value  of  specialization  upon  this  supreme, 
pervasive  feature  of  the  work  was  being  demonstrated  by  the 
separation  of  some  men  to  it,  in  the  interest  of  the  whole 
brotherhood,  and  the  staff  was  steadily  increased.  In  response 
to  these  efforts  the  sum  of  fruitful  religious  work  by  the  Asso- 
ciations was  augmented.  Many  City  Associations  added 
Secretaries  set  apart  to  special  religious  work.  The  Men  and 
Religion  Movement  of  1910-1911,  reaching  with  inspirational 
influence  sixty  cities,  was  an  outgrowth  of  the  activities  of 
this  department. 

Parallel  with  this  special  religious  emphasis  was  the  growth 
during  this  period  of  both  Bible  and  evangelistic  work  in  the 
Student  Associations,  led  by  the  student  staff  of  the  Commit- 
tee. Both  movements,  city  and  student,  made  use  of  the  Com- 
mittee's Publication  Department  for  the  issuing  of  courses  of 
Bible  study  and  other  literature.  Both  were  strong  expres- 
sions of  an  emphasis  upon  specialization  in  the  Religious 
Work  of  the  Association  Movement.  They  yielded  results 
which  encouraged  leaders  and  workers  to  persevere  in  further 
specialization,  seeking  improvement  of  methods,  and  the  en- 
listment of  a  leadership — local.  State,  and  International — 
which  would  steadily  make  the  Religious  Work  more  and  more 
central,  supreme,  and  pervasive.  In  the  further  development 
of  this  specialization,  under  the  stronger  leadership  of  General 
Secretary  Mott,  Senior  Secretary  Robert  P.  Wilder,  Professor 
Henry  B.  Wright  and  others,  better  achievement  than  ever  is 
being  accomplished  by  the  Associations  in  that  work  which 
is  the  objective  and  crown  of  all  their  activities. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  CHAIRMANSHIP 

Resignation  op  Cephas  Brainerd  and  Election  of  His 

Successor 

The  resignation  of  Cephas  Brainerd  as  chairman  of  the 
Committee  was  an  epoch-making  event.  For  twenty-five  years 
this  important  oflSce  was  administered  by  him  with  such 
remarkable  ability  that  if  the  event  was  to  take  place,  I  could 
not  be  grateful  enough  that  the  shadow  it  cast  upon  my  path 
was  suflSciently  long  for  me  to  enter  it  intelligently  nearly  a 
year  before  the  resignation  itself  took  etfect. 

Early  in  the  autumn  of  1891,  soon  after  our  return  from 
the  World's  Conference  at  Amsterdam,  in  very  friendly 
fashion  he  told  me  of  his  purpose  to  resign  at  the  end  of  the 
year  on  December  31,  1891.  His  reasons  as  he  afterward  gave 
them  in  written  form  were:  1.  His  age — fifty-six  years.  This 
he  frankly  acknowledged  was  not  satisfactory  to  others,  but 
was  completely  so  to  himself.  2.  The  increasing  work  of  the 
Committee.  3.  His  health.  4.  The  counsel  of  his  family.  On 
the  last  named  reason  he  justly  ijlaced  strong  emphasis,  for 
Mrs.  Brainerd  was  as  deeply  interested  in  the  work  as  himself. 
They  were  in  fullest  sympathy  in  donating  to  the  work  what 
was  to  both  of  them  costly  and  beyond  price,  and  yet  most 
cheerfully  given.  Her  judgment  and  decision  fully  accorded 
with  his,  and  wisely  rested  upon  considerations  relating  to 
important  professional  business  and  family  obligations. 

The  change  or  transfer  of  administrative  responsibility  in- 
volved in  his  withdrawal  made  it  an  event  which  no  one  could 
intelligently  contemplate  without  some  serious  apprehension. 
Perhaps  to  no  one  connected  with  the  International  Work  did 
it  seem  so  serious  as  to  me.  Our  intercourse  had  been  intimate 
for  over  twenty-two  years.  His  readiness  to  take  and  bear  a 
first  responsibility;  his  insight  and  sagacity  in  the  pressure 
of  difficult  situations;  his  large  share  in  the  more  taxing  por- 
tion of  the  correspondence;  his  practice  of  tarrying  in  the 

274 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  CHAIRMANSHIP  275 

city  in  active  business,  summer  and  winter,  far  beyond  the 
practice  of  most  of  his  associates;  and  the  knowledge  of  each 
other  which  each  of  us  had  gained,  made  to  me  the  conse- 
quences of  his  withdrawal,  as  I  tried  to  anticipate  them, 
almost  unthinkable. 

On  the  first  mention  of  his  purpose,  after  meditating  on 
what  he  had  said,  1  told  him  of  this  feeling,  and  with  utmost 
friendliness  he  sought  to  comfort  me.  But  his  withdrawal 
was  to  be  into  the  non-attending  advisory  membership.  He 
had  commanded  and  was  commanding  the  confidence  not  only 
of  his  associates,  but  of  practically  all  the  Association  leaders 
throughout  the  continent.  While  he  had  been  absent  from 
some  Conventions  of  primary  importance,  his  ably  drawn 
reports  had  been  read  at  the  seventeen  Conventions  held  dur- 
ing his  chairmanship.  At  the  majority  of  these  he  had  been 
present,  and  this  fact,  together  with  his  wide  corresjjondence, 
caused  him  to  be  well  known  throughout  the  brotherhood. 

Soon  after  the  Chairman  had  told  me  of  his  purpose  in  the 
autumn  of  1891,  the  condition  of  McBurney's  health  was  such 
as  to  lead  the  New  York  Board,  and  our  Committee,  to  grant 
to  both  of  us  a  leave  of  absence  to  visit  Egypt  and  Palestine. 
Under  the  pressure  of  this  emergency  the  Chairman  gave  up 
his  intention  of  resigning  at  the  end  of  the  year  1891,  and 
consented  to  continue  in  office  until  the  day  in  July,  1892, 
which  would  mark  exactly  the  end  of  a  quarter-century  term 
in  ofiQce. 

This  breakdown  of  McBurney's  health  was  really  the  be- 
ginning of  the  end,  which,  however,  did  not  come  until  after 
the  lapse  of  seven  years  and  not  until  he  had  rendered  very 
important  additional  service,  both  to  the  New  York  Associa- 
tion, and  to  the  whole  brotherhood.  His  physical  condition 
seemed  a  menace  to  the  City  and  the  International  Work,  and 
to  all  of  us  it  appeared  to  be  my  primary  duty  to  be  with  him 
during  his  leave  of  absence. 

During  this  period  (1890-1895)  another  consideration  was 
influencing  him.  He  felt  that  the  International  Work,  the 
growth  of  which  he  had  effectively  fostered,  was  in  danger  of 
being  unduly  and  disproportionately  extended.  He  was 
equally  identified  with  the  New  York  State  Work,  and  was 
strongly  inclined  to  believe  that  whatever  increase  of  super- 


276  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

vision  was  needed  by  the  Associations  now,  could  be  secured 
from  the  State  organizations,  rather  than  from  the  Interna- 
tional. He  was  interested  in  our  securing  at  this  time  an 
International  Educational  Secretary,  but  questioned  whether 
this  new  department  might  not  be  wisely  deputed  to  the  staff 
of  the  State  Committees. 

To  me  this  did  not  appear  sound  reasoning,  though  I  was 
heartily  committed  with  him  to  the  steady  growth  of  State 
sui3ervision.  One  of  the  reasons  for  the  existence  of  the  Inter- 
national organization  was  the  fostering  of  the  growth  of  State 
Work.  But  a  corresponding  and  accompanying  growth  of  the 
International  Work  seemed  equally  desirable.  Both  should 
grow  with  the  development  of  the  local  Association  Movement 
— each  also  in  sympathy  and  cooperation  with  the  other.  How- 
ever I  kept  an  open  mind,  and  was  heartily  willing  to  experi- 
ment with  the  committal  of  some  one  or  more  departments 
to  the  State  organizations.  Some  years  before,  though  the 
way  was  open  to  secure  a  Boys'  Secretary  for  the  Interna- 
tional Committee,  I  cooperated  cheerfully  with  the  New  York 
State  Committee  in  securing  for  them  the  first  qualified  candi- 
date— Sumner  F.  Dudley,  who  had  proved  an  efficient  and 
successful  leader  in  Boys'  Work. 

During  this  period  also  the  provincial  and  state  organiza- 
tions in  their  militia  tent  work  were  beginning  a  form  and 
method  of  Association  work  among  soldiers  destined  to  a  vast 
extension  by  the  International  agency  of  supervision. 

But,  aside  from  this  conflict  of  opinion,  another  controlling 
event  of  this  period  (1892-97)  caused  an  actual  arrest  of 
extension,  by  either  agency  of  supervision.  A  severe  financial 
depression  throughout  the  country  began  in  1893  and  con- 
tinued for  several  years  to  retard  the  growth  of  Association 
work,  local  as  well  as  supervisory.  When  it  began  it  was  too 
late  to  cut  down  the  Committee's  expenses  of  1893,  which 
amounted  to  |75,000,  an  annual  expenditure  greater  than 
that  of  any  preceding  year.  Not  until  four  years  later  was 
the  annual  expenditure  equal  to  this  sum.  Then  in  1898  by 
the  Army  and  Navy  Work  the  Committee's  expenditure  was 
more  than  doubled,  during  the  months  of  the  brief  war  with 
Spain. 

During  this  trying  period  of  depression  the  state  and  local 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  CHAIRMANSHIP  277 

organizations  suffered  even  more  serious  retrenchment.  Some 
State  Committees  were  so  embarrassed  by  tlie  loss  of  members 
of  their  staff  that  at  their  urgent  request,  the  International 
Committee  lent  them  its  Secretaries  for  brief  periods.  In  this 
way  the  integritj^  of  our  staff'  was  maintained,  while  a  neces- 
sary reduction  of  both  International  and  State  budgets  was 
accomplished,  and  State  Work  was  helped  at  points  of  greatest 
need.  Both  agencies  of  supervision  were  thus  able  to  render 
more  help  to  the  local  organizations  than  would  otherwise 
have  been  possible. 

A  Trip  to  Palestine  and  the  Near  East 

In  the  autumn  of  1891  our  friend  Elbert  B.  Monroe  ex- 
pressed to  McBurue}'  and  myself  the  concern  he  felt  regarding 
both  of  us  in  the  matter  of  overwork.  "You  ought  to  take  such 
a  rest  as  you  never  yet  have  secured — a  rest  taken  in  the 
midst  of  your  working  year.  I  believe  that  in  this  way  each 
of  you  would  secure  additional  years  of  ability  to  continue 
at  the  maximum  of  your  efficiency."  He  accompanied  this 
solicitude  for  our  welfare  with  the  offer  to  us  of  the  cost  of 
a  trip  that  season  to  Egj-pt  and  the  Holy  Land.  Such  an 
absence  at  this  busy  season  seemed  to  us  out  of  the  question, 
but  it  was  a  characteristic  offer  from  Elbert  Monroe.  He 
was  himself  a  genuine  forerunner  of  the  Laymen's  Missionary 
Movement,  having  made  some  years  before  this  time  a  world 
tour  of  foreign  missionary  visitation.  This  experience  was 
leading  him  in  a  generous  way  to  promote  similar  visits  by 
leaders  in  Christian  work,  to  the  advantage  of  both  the  visitors 
and  their  fellow  workers  on  the  foreign  field. 

Soon  after  this  interview,  McBurney  experienced  enough 
of  a  breakdown  to  keep  him  for  the  first  time  from  joining  the 
''Topic  Partj'"  at  its  annual  session  in  November.  This  cir- 
cumstance increased  the  urgency  of  Mr.  Monroe's  invitation, 
in  which  he  was  now  joined  by  some  of  his  associates  on  the 
International  Committee,  and  among  the  Directors  of  the 
New  York  Association,  so  we  agreed  to  go  in  February,  after 
a  satisfactory  close  of  the  fiscal  year  by  both  the  Committee 
and  the  Association. 

After  my  more  important  financial  letters  for  the  new  year 
had  been  prepared,  our  party  of  four — McBurney  and  my  asso- 


278  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

ciate  Charles  K.  Ober,  with  Mrs.  Morse  aud  myself — set  out 
for  Egypt  by  way  of  Paris,  Florence,  Rome,  and  Naples.  In  a 
family  letter  I  thus  described  our  experiences: 

"We  tarried  in  Italy,  spending  a  few  days  in  each  of  these 
cities.  We  gained  also  brief  but  very  vivid  impressions  of  the 
Nile,  the  Pyramids  and  the  Sphinx,  of  Cairo,  with  its  mission 
work,  mosques,  minarets,  universities,  bazaars,  and  museum, 
and  of  Heliopolis,  where  Joseph  found  his  wife,  and  where 
centuries  afterward  Moses  received  his  education.  But  Pales- 
tine was  our  destination.  Beginning  with  Jatfa,  the  plain  of 
Sharon,  the  vale  of  Ajalon,  and  the  mountains  of  Judea,  we 
arrived  at  Jerusalem.  A  brief  visit  was  made  to  Bethlehem 
and  Hebron.  With  horses,  mules,  tents,  and  dragoman  we 
journeyed  to  Jericho,  the  Jordan,  and  the  Dead  Sea.  Return- 
ing to  Jerusalem,  we  set  out  upon  the  interesting  journey  to 
Damascus,  through  Shiloh  and  Sychar,  between  Mounts  Ebal 
and  Gerizim,  and  on  to  Samaria,  the  plain  of  Ezdraelon, 
Dotham,  and  Jezreel,  Naboth's  vineyard,  aud  past  Nain  to 
Nazareth.  Here  from  the  mountain  behind  the  village,  through 
a  wonderfully  clear  sky,  we  looked  far  to  the  south  over  the 
path  we  had  traveled,  with  Carmel,  Gilboa,  and  Tabor  in  full 
view ;  to  the  north  the  sea  and  mountains  of  Galilee  appeared 
with  snow-clad  Lebanon  in  the  farther  distance.  On  the  west 
the  blue  Mediterranean,  and  on  the  east  the  mountains  of 
Moab,  beyond  the  Jordan,  completed  a  prospect  and  vision 
which  once  seen,  were  never  to  be  forgotten. 

Our  camp  one  evening  was  near  the  fountain  of  the  village 
of  Nazareth,  where  in  every  generation  the  women  of  the  j)lace 
have  come,  as  they  are  now  daily  coming,  to  fill  their  water 
pots  and  where  we  cannot  doubt  the  mother  of  our  Lord  came 
very  often  with  the  Child  as  her  companion.  The  next  day, 
Saturday,  we  passed  through  Cana  of  Galilee  and  reached 
Tiberias  on  the  Lake  in  time  to  take  ship  past  what  was  Mag- 
dala  and  Bethsaida.  The  water  was  very  calm  and  we  won- 
dered why  the  expert  boatmen  kept  so  close  to  the  bending 
shore  of  the  bay,  instead  of  taking  a  straight  course  from  one 
arm  of  it  to  the  other,  which  was  our  destination.  Upon  our 
asking  the  reason,  they  pointed  to  a  dark,  angry  cloud,  high 
up  the  deep  valley  and  told  us  that  no  one  could  tell  whether 
at  any  moment  a  storm  might  be  upon  us.  Soon  indeed  we  felt 
a  sudden  gust  and  instantaneously  all  the  surface  of  the  bay 
about  us  was  roughened.  But  in  the  upper  air  that  afternoon, 
a  contrary  current  carried  the  cloud  away  from  us  out  of  the 
valley  and  took  our  anxieties  with  it.  We  soon  reached  the 
site  of  Capernaum  and  wandered  among  the  scant  remains  of 
the  synagogue  in  which  our  Lord  uttered  the  sermon  on  the 
Bread  of  Life.    From  day  to  day  perfect  weather  was  granted 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  CHAIRMANSHIP  279 

US,  and  at  every  sunrise  and  sunset  the  landscape  and  sky  were 
beautiful  beyond  description. 

Returning  from  Capernaum  along  the  shore  of  the  bay,  we 
pitched  our  camp  over  Sunday  upon  the  plain  of  Gennesaret 
near  the  site  of  Bethsaida  and  all  Sunday  morning  we  sat  by 
the  sea  in  full  view  of  Gerghesa  on  the  opposite  shore,  and 
of  that  'steep  place'  near  it,  while  beyond  the  plain  in  front 
of  us  were  visible  on  the  one  hand  the  Mount  of  the  Beatitudes 
and  on  the  other  almost  the  entire  lake,  near  whose  shores, 
now  comparatively  deserted,  were  located  in  the  time  of  our 
Lord  many  cities  full  of  people  who  were  ever  flocking  about 
and  pressing  upon  Him  to  hear  the  word  of  life  and  to  receive 
His  healing  touch  and  message.  It  was  a  rare  privilege  to 
spend  these  beautiful  days  in  such  scenery,  and  to  read  again 
in  this  environment  the  words  he  spoke  in  synagogue  and  on 
yet  more  sacred  plain  and  shore  and  mountain. 

Three  days  we  spent  in  passing  through  the  upper  Jordan 
valley  and  over  the  lower  slopes  of  Hermon.  Thrice  we  camped 
on  the  sides  of  the  mountain  and  awakened  each  morning  with 
the  'dew  of  Hermon'  all  about  us.  On  the  fourth  day,  still  in 
the  presence  of  the  wonderful  mountain,  we  entered  the  city  of 
Damascus,  over  what  is  left  of  the  once  excellent  Roman  road 
by  which  blinded  but  obedient  Saul  of  Tarsus  was  led  into  its 
streets." 

In  another  letter  written  home  at  the  time,  I  said : 

"We  were  pleasantly  located  in  a  new  hotel  of  this  most 
ancient  city.  Is  it  correctly  called  the  oldest  city  in  the  world  ? 
Certainly  it  was  already  aged  when  Eliezer  left  it,  to  become 
the  faithful  servant  of  Abraham.  Reaching  it  across  the  heated 
plain  we  are  greatly  refreshed  by  its  gardens,  well-watered 
by  the  'Abanah  and  Pharpar,  rivers  of  Damascus,'  the  waters 
of  which  are  now  led  through  these  streets  and  bring  such  cool- 
ness and  comfort  that  one  is  ready  heartily  to  join  Naamau 
in  his  good  opinion  of  these  ancient  streams.  Of  course  we 
are  shown  the  site  of  Naaman's  house !  We  have  gone  through 
the  'street  called  Straight,'  and  it  deserves  its  name  in  this 
city  of  crooked  lanes  and  avenues.  The  bazaars  seem  far  more 
extensive  and  interesting  than  those  of  the  larger  metropolis 
of  Cairo. 

There  is  only  one  carriage  road — a  westward  one — out  of 
Damascus.  On  all  other  sides  passengers  and  freight  must  go 
out  or  enter  by  means  of  men  or  horses,  donkeys  or  mules, 
camels  or  other  beasts  of  burden.  This  one  road  has  been 
built  by  a  French  corporation,  with  a  well  equipped  line  of 
diligences,  over  Lebanon.  This  diligence  we  mounted  one  day 
at  4:30  a.  m.  (April  4th).    Our  six  horses  were  changed  every 


280  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

hour  as  we  wound  up  the  sides  of  lofty  Hermon,  several  thou- 
sand feet,  then  down  into  the  valley  beyond,  only  to  rise  again 
yet  higher — even  above  the  snow  line  of  Lebanon,  whence  we 
descended  to  the  coast  city  of  Beirut,  beautiful  for  situation 
on  the  blue  Mediterranean.  We  entered  its  streets  at  5:30 
p.  M.  with  the  eleventh  team  of  horses  we  had  used  during 
the  day.  But  soon — so  we  are  told — a  welcome  railroad  is  to 
unite  Beirut  and  Damascus,  and  another,  Jaffa  and  Jerusalem ; 
and  later  Beirut,  Kaifa,  Jaffa,  and  far-off  Cairo  are  to  be  in 
like  manner  connected.    Speed  the  day !" 

At  Beirut  we  had  been  expected,  and  received  a  most  hos- 
pitable welcome  from  our  friends  among  the  older  and  younger 
professors  and  teachers,  leaders  and  workers  connected  with 
the  American  College,  the  Bible  House,  the  church,  the  Girls' 
Seminary,  and  other  Christian  institutions  of  Beirut. 

This  is  indeed  highly  favored  among  Moslem  cities  in  the 
shelter  it  has  given  to  a  center  of  Christian  faith,  life,  and 
service,  more  intelligent,  sacrificial,  and  Christ-revealing  than 
the  older  Christian  churches  of  the  near  east  have  been  pre- 
senting to  the  world  of  Islam.  For  a  month  we  had  been 
traveling  among  a  population  of  this  land  of  promise  which 
had  excited  pity  and  solicitude.  From  communication  with 
the  people  we  were  shut  out,  by  the  impassable  barrier  of 
language.  Our  dragoman  was  the  only  interpreter  we  had. 
He  was  a  good  Christian  man,  son  of  an  Austrian  Hebrew, 
who  had  served  in  Kossuth's  army  and  had  survived  only  to 
live  as  an  exile  in  Syria,  marrying  a  native  of  Jerusalem,  the 
place  of  his  residence.  The  son  for  thirty  years  has  been  a 
Syrian  guide,  an  expert  in  his  vocation.  His  ambition  for  his 
son,  a  lad  of  fifteen,  was  that  he  might  receive  a  Christian  edu- 
cation at  the  college  in  Beirut.  After  taking  counsel  with  our 
friends  in  this  institution,  we  four  agreed  to  provide  the  lad 
with  this  opportunity,  hoping  he  would  justify  the  good 
opinion  of  his  father  and  friends. 

To  quote  from  another  letter  of  the  period : 

"Urgent  indeed  and  distressing  is  the  need  of  the  people 
of  Syria.  In  Jerusalem  I  met  an  intelligent  Christian  native, 
a  member  of  the  church  of  England,  and  asked  him  what  hope- 
ful expectation  cheered  the  intelligent  patriotic  men  of  his 
country.  He  confirmed  what  I  had  heard,  that  while  the  gov- 
erning Turk  was  hated,  the  Russian  was  feared  even  more. 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  CHAIRMANSHIP  281 

He  himself  was  so  despondent  and  bewildered  that  I  felt  as 
if  I  were  talking  with  a  man  without  a  country.  The  abomi- 
nableness  of  the  abominable  Turk  was  certainly  apparent 
on  every  hand.  He  discourages  and  oppresses  industry  by 
every  kind  of  extortionate  tax,  especially  on  the  successful 
farmer  or  any  other  industrious  producer.  If  one  turns  from 
the  ruling  class  to  the  so  called  Christian  population — Greek, 
Latin,  Copt,  Maronite,  etc. — one  feels  keenly  how  little  the 
Christian  name  stands  for  anything  that  excites  hope.  At 
Bethlehem,  in  the  chancel  of  the  church  built  on  the  traditional 
site  of  the  nativity,  we  found  a  Moslem  soldier  stationed  day 
and  night  to  keep  the  peace — so  sharp  and  bitter  is  the  con- 
test between  the  two  sects  of  Christians  for  this  site,  of  which 
each  now  occupies  one-half.  At  a  few  points  along  our  path 
we  had  found  excellent  Christian  work  and  workers,  English, 
Scotch,  and  German,  and  here  we  come  into  sympathetic  touch 
with  an  American  center  of  Christian  influence,  and  with  a 
group  of  devoted  men  and  women,  representative  of  the  best 
qualit}^  of  Christian  faith  and  service  in  the  generation  to 
which  they  belong." 

On  our  homeward  journey  from  Beirut  we  visited  Smyrna, 
Ephesus,  Athens,  Constantinople,  and  Vienna.  At  Robert 
College  on  the  Bosphorus,  at  the  Bible  House  near  the  Golden 
Horn,  and  in  the  group  of  teachers  and  workers  who  welcomed 
us  there  we  gained  the  same  encouraging  outlook  which  had 
greeted  us  at  Beirut  and  wherever  we  found  the  genuine  Chris- 
tian missionary  at  work. 

At  Vienna  Mrs.  Morse  was  overtaken  by  an  attack  of  fever 
so  serious  and  alarming  that  our  stay  there  was  prolonged  for 
several  weeks.  The  other  two  members  of  our  party  completed 
the  journey,  as  had  been  planned,  in  northern  Italy,  the  change 
and  recreation  of  travel  proving  of  permanent  benefit  to  our 
friend  McBuruey.  After  a  very  trying  and  anxious  experience 
in  Vienna,  Mrs.  Morse  recovered  sufficiently  for  us  to  return 
home  by  way  of  Berlin  and  Bremen.  It  had  proved  for  both 
of  us  a  journey  ending  in  a  very  trying  ordeal,  but  also  full 
of  many  experiences,  the  memory  of  which  we  cherished  with 
an  ever  growing  gratitude. 

A  Fitting  Tribute  to  the  Retiring  Chairman 

Soon  after  our  return  in  June,  1892,  Cephas  Brainerd  re- 
tired from  the  chairmanship.     A  very  significant  tribute  to 


282  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

him  was  planned  by  the  graceful  courtesy  of  William  R 
Dodge,  who  led  in  signing  a  letter  inviting  Mr.  Brainerd  to 
a  dinner  and  commemorative  meeting.  Sixty-two  friends  of 
the  work  from  all  parts  of  the  country  joined  in  this  request. 
Seventy-seven  were  present  at  the  meeting,  and  from  seventy 
who  could  not  come  letters  of  regret  were  received. 

A  full  account  of  this  commemoration  was  prepared  and  pub- 
lished in  an  octavo  pamphlet  of  sixty-five  pages,  entitled:  "A 
Tribute  to  Twenty-five  Years  of  Successful  Leadership  in 
Work  for  Young  Men."  It  contained  brief  but  discriminating 
tributes  from  William  E.  Dodge,  Jr.,  Kev.  Dr.  Theodore  L. 
Cuyler,  Hon.  William  M.  Evarts,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  Austin 
Abbott,  Morris  K.  Jesup,  Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  Gen.  O.  O. 
Howard,  Elbert  B.  Monroe,  H.  Kirke  Porter,  of  Pittsburgh, 
Henry  M.  Moore,  of  Boston,  Major  Joseph  Hardie,  of  Ala- 
bama, Kobert  R.  McBurney,  and  others. 

In  the  opening  address  Mr.  Dodge  said : 

"It  is  twenty-five  years  and  more  since  Mr.  Brainerd  ac- 
cepted the  position  he  has  so  worthily  filled,  and  in  thinking 
back  over  so  long  a  period  some  of  us  would  feel  pretty  old, 
if  it  w^ere  not  for  the  fact  that  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  is  a  fountain  of  perpetual  youth.  Neither  Mr. 
Brainerd  nor  Mr.  Morse  nor  Mr.  McBurney  will  ever  grow 
old;  they  are  like  the  trees  of  the  tropics  that  bear  blossoms 
and  fruit  through  all  the  year.  They  are  always  devising  new 
plans,  and  always  patiently  and  wisely  working  out  schemes 
that  but  a  little  while  before  seemed  impossible. 

There  is  one  pleasant  thing  about  an  occasion  of  this  kind. 
It  is  an  opportunity  of  telling  a  good  man  in  his  lifetime  how 
much  we  appreciate  his  work.  The  best  men  have  their  periods 
of  depression,  and  it  is  a  cheer  and  inspiration  to  them  to 
know  that  others  understand  their  diflQculties  and  think  kindly 
of  them.  We  Americans  have  a  vicious  habit  of  criticizing 
and  withholding  praise  from  our  best  men,  and  when  they 
die,  loading  their  unconscious  graves  with  eulogy.  It  is  an  old 
chestnut,  but  the  quaint  fellow  in  the  back  country  had  much 
philosophy  and  knowledge  of  human  nature  when  he  said: 
'I  would  rather  have  a  pound  of  "taffy"  than  a  ton  of  "epi- 
taffy." ' 

Personally  I  feel  under  a  great  debt  of  gratitude  to  Mr. 
Brainerd.  Some  of  you  will  remember  the  serious  divisions 
and  dissensions  which  occurred  in  our  work  in  New  York  in 
its  earliest  days.  There  was  a  temptation  to  go  outside  of 
'work  by  young  men  for  young  men,'  and  to  become  directly 


Ckphas  Bkainerd  William  E.  Dodge 


Elbert  B.  Moxkoe  Mobris  K.   Jesup 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  CHAIRMANSHIP  283 

interested  in  the  exciting  questions  of  those  troublous  times. 
Many  of  us  were  discouraged,  and  for  a  time  withdrew  from 
the  Association.  I  cannot  forget  how  earnestly  Mr.  Brainerd 
came  to  me,  and  in  what  a  kindly  and  brotherly  spirit  he  urged 
me  to  come  back,  pleading  that  there  was  more  at  stake  than 
the  mere  matter  of  influencing  a  few  young  men  in  the  city 
of  New  York.  The  grarid  work  he  has  since  accomplished  im- 
pressively confirms  the  position  he  then  held. 

I  am  sure  I  am  not  the  only  one  here  who  feels  personally 
indebted.  We  all  realize  that  we  have  long  since  come  to  the 
end  of  the  period  when  the  work  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  is  to  be  regarded  as  an  experiment.  Young 
men  trained  in  our  work,  and  educated  on  our  committees,  are 
everj'where  taking  the  places  of  highest  responsibility.  Under- 
lying principles  and  methods  of  work  have  been,  one  after  an- 
other, formulated  by  the  cool  brains  and  warm  hearts  of  our 
International  Committee.  Everything  has  been  carefully, 
wisely,  and  well  thought  out,  and  then  successfully  carried 
into  practical  operation,  under  the  guiding  hand  of  its  Chair- 
man. We  know  he  has  taken  time  for  our  cause  that  might 
most  profitably  have  been  spent  to  his  personal  interest,  but 
surely  he  will  receive  his  reward.  I  know  what  a  great  pleas- 
ure it  is  for  us  to  tell  him  tonight  how  much  we  love  and 
honor  him  for  the  great  service  he  has  rendered." 

Mr.  Brainerd  spoke  in  part  as  follows : 

"My  connection  with  the  Committee  was  due  to  a  sort  of 
accident — let  me  confidentially  tell  you  about  it.  In  1866  some 
members  of  the  appropriate  committee  of  the  Albany  Conven- 
tion proposed  me  as  one  of  the  members  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee then  to  be  organized.  Objection  was  made,  founded 
no  doubt  upon  my  pronounced  views  in  regard  to  the  work 
which  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  ought  to  per- 
form, and  it  was  said  that  the  Committee  might  not  be  ac- 
ceptable to  the  Associations  over  the  country,  if  my  name  were 
placed  upon  it.  Those  who  suggested  my  name  yielded 
properly  to  that  consideration,  and  it  was  omitted  from  the 
Committee  appointed.  The  first  meeting  was  at  2^  Wall 
Street.  Every  appointee  was  present  save  one,  who  sent  in 
a  declination,  and  I  was  selected  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned 
by  his  withdrawal.  It  was  our  chairman  (Mr.  Dodge)  who 
declined  to  accept  the  appointment^  and^  he  is  therefore  re- 
sponsible, so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  for  all  that  has  taken 
place  upon  the  Committee  which  may  popularly  be  ascribed 
to  me,  and,  of  course,  for  the  gathering  this  evening. 

I  may  not  take  to  myself  what  has  been  said  in  regard  to 
leadership  in  the  work  of  the  Association  upon  this  continent, 


284  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

and  in  the  world.  It  belongs  to  the  Committee  whose  Chair- 
man I  have  been  for  so  many  years,  and  to  the  friends  who 
have  sympathized  with,  cooperated  with,  and  supported  it 
these  many  years — supported  it  not  by  advice  only,  not  by 
personal  etfort  only,  not  by  money  only,  but  by  all  three  com- 
bined. 

That  leadership  has  not  been  due,  by  any  means, 
wholly  to  the  wisdom,  real  or  supposed,  of  the  indi- 
vidual members  of  the  Committee.  It  is  indisputably 
true,  however,  that  the  Committee  has  been  the  leader 
under  God  in  the  development  of  the  Association  all 
these  long  years.  This,  however,  did  not  come  about 
because  any  individual  member  knew  all  that  was 
required,  suggested  all  the  advance  movements,  or 
devised  all  the  means  for  bringing  them  about.  It 
is  due  to  the  facts  that  through. the  correspondence 
of  the  Committee,  through  its  Secretaries,  and  through 
its  friends  all  over  the  land,  the  Committee  sought  to 
gain,  and  did  gain,  the  best  views  of  the  most  efficient 
and  devoted  men  in  the  lead  in  this  work  in  every 
state  in  the  Union,  and  when  thus  gained,  it  was  the 
aim  of  the  Committee,  acting  collectively,  to  put  these 
views  into  effective  practical  operation.  We  never 
had  opinions  and  plans  of  our  own  to  force  upon  the 
Associations,  when,  after  careful  consideration  and 
frank  conference,  it  appeared  that  there  were  better 
views  and  better  plans  to  be  advocated. 

In  the  Committee  itself  there  was  always  careful  and  candid 
discussion ;  there  was  no  sparing  of  persons ;  there  was  no 
failure  to  expose  weakness — but  there  was  never  a  quarrel. 
Indeed  the  Committee  in  its  administration  during  all  this 
period  of  twenty-five  years,  representing,  as  it  sought  to  do, 
the  views  of  the  Conventions  and  the  Associations,  met  with 
but  four  instances  of  serious  opposition.  In  each  of  these 
cases  in  a  short  time,  after  frank  and  thorough  conference,  the 
opposition  disappeared.  So  far  as  the  meetings  of  the  Com- 
mittee are  concerned  there  have  been  no  acrimonious  disputes, 
no  harsh  discussions,  and,  if  my  recollection  is  not  sadly  at 
fault,  only  two  test  votes,  though  the  meetings  have  been  fre- 
quent and  the  topics  discussed  numerous  and  important.  It 
must  not  be  understood,  however,  that  the  members  of  the 
Committee  lacked  persistence,  determination,  or  conviction; 
but  they  were  able  always  to  meet  finally  upon  a  common 
ground,  because  the  leading  purpose  which  actuated  every 
friend  of  the  Committee  and  every  one  of  its  members  was  to 
accomplish  in  the  Associations  that  which  was  for  the  best 
interests  of  the  young  men  of  the  country." 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  CHAIRMANSHIP  285 

At  the  close  of  the  evening,  in  response  to  the  request  of 
Mr.  Dodge,  I  said: 

*'0f  the  work  with  which  these  twenty-five  years  of  adminis- 
tration have  been  identified — the  work  of  supervision  and  ex- 
tension of  the  American  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 
— ^its  merits  and  importance,  I  would  gladly  say  a  few  words. 
Both  Mr.  Boies  and  Mr.  McBurney  have  referred  to  the  chaotic 
condition  in  whicli  the  Committee  and  its  Chairman  twenty- 
five  years  ago  found  the  Association  work.  The  problems  met 
were  varied  and  difficult.  Even  the  distinctive  function  of  the 
Association  was  imperfectly  understood.  Aside  from  this  it 
would  be  easy  to  indicate,  if  there  were  time,  the  inherent 
need  the  Associations  show,  in  every  department,  of  that  super- 
vision, to  the  careful,  patient  exercise  of  which  Mr.  Brainerd 
so  successfully  devoted  himself — a  supervision  which  grasped 
clearly  and  held  firmly  the  distinctive  purpose  of  the  organi- 
zation, and  which  had  grit  as  well  as  wisdom  and  forecast  in 
it.  Only  as  they  continue  to  command  such  supervision  will 
the  Associations  successfully  carry  out  the  work  they  have 
been  raised  up  to  accomplish. 

When  this  century  began,  the  condition  of  our  country 
had  some  resemblance  to  that  of  the  Associations  in  the  early 
period  of  their  history.  The  thirteen  states,  only  recently 
united  in  a  general  government,  lacked  coherence  and  national 
unity.  During  the  first  thirty  years  of  the  century,  while 
Jefiferson,  Madison,  Monroe,  and  the  younger  Adams  succeeded 
one  another  in  the  presidency,  one  man  more  remarkable  and 
influential  held  office  uninterruptedly.  During  this  entire 
formative  period  of  the  nation's  history  he  remained  at  the 
head  of  the  judiciary  department  of  the  government.  He  was 
aware  of  the  various  conflicting  forces,  or  centrifugal  tenden- 
cies toward  emphasis  on  state  rights  and  state  sovereignty, 
and  of  the  centripetal  influences  exerted  all  too  feebly  in  favor 
of  a  dominant  union  and  nation.  Like  Edmund  Burke,  with 
genuine  statesman-like  discernment,  he  believed  in  carrying 
the  weight  of  his  reasons  and  influence  to  that  side  of  the  ship 
of  state  which  had  need  of  them  to  maintain  a  safe  equipoise. 
Steadily  during  all  those  formative  years  the  great  chief  jus- 
tice, John  Marshall,  as  issue  after  issue  came  before  him 
for  decision,  exerted  his  influence  on  the  side  of  the  union 
and  the  nation.  And  a  little  later  when  Daniel  Webster  ap- 
pealed to  the  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  liberty  and  union 
as  one  and  inseparable,  the  response  of  the  people  gave  wit- 
ness to  how  effectively  the  work  of  the  chief  justice  had  been 
performed.  Years  afterward,  when  a  confederacy  was  organ- 
ized and  armies  were  marshaled  to  overthrow  that  work,  it 
was  found  that  the  chief  justice  had  builded  on  the  rock  and 


286  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

of  the  rock,  and  that  the  structure  stood  four  square  against 
every  wind  of  disloyalty. 

It  seems  to  me  we  have  with  us  as  our  guest  tonight  the 
great  chief  justice  of  our  American  Associations.  During  his 
long  term  of  twenty-five  years,  as  head  of  the  agency  of  super- 
vision, he  has  stood  for  and  maintained  the  structural  idea 
of  the  Association.  Every  genuinely  North  American  organi- 
zation like  ours,  popular  and  representative  in  its  character, 
and  reaching  out  for  an  affiliation  over  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  must  correspond  in  its  experience  and  framework  with 
the  experience  and  framework  of  our  representative  govern- 
ment. 

When  Mr.  Brainerd  took  office  the  Association  was  feeling 
its  way  toward  a  definition  of  its  great  single  purpose.  There 
were  many  conflicting  opinions.  The  societies  were  isolated 
from  one  another.  Centrifugal  forces  predominated.  Our 
chief  justice  at  the  helm  discerned  clearly  the  situation,  seized 
strongly  and  stated  clearly  the  fundamental  purpose  of  the 
organization,  and  carried  the  whole  weight  of  his  official  in- 
fluence toward  promoting  the  solidarity  of  the  Association 
and  building  up  the  agency  of  supervision  and  extension  which 
was  indispensable  to  the  best  welfare  of  the  brotherhood. 

We  are  coming  to  times  of  trial  and  emergency  as  the  Asso- 
ciations multiply  their  numbers  and  usefulness.  We  may  need 
a  Webster  and  a  Lincoln.  But  if  the  Associations  and  their 
leaders  are  successful  in  the  future,  it  will  be  because  of  the 
good  foundation  work  of  our  chief  justice  in  the  twenty-five 
years  of  his  faithful,  patient,  unobtrusive  administration. 
What  he  has  done  has  insured  us  guiding  precedent  and  light- 
house warning  of  shoal  and  sunken  rock  on  which  otherwise 
we  might  make  shipwreck. 

Over  a  hundred  years  ago,  about  this  season  of  the  year 
1801,  the  elder  Adams  was  preparing  to  leave  the  national 
capital,  sadly  disappointed  at  his  non-election  to  the  presidency 
for  a  second  term.  One  of  his  last  official  acts,  near  the  very 
close  of  his  administration,  was  the  appointment  of  John 
Marshall  to  be  chief  justice.  He  little  dreamed  in  those  daj's 
so  dark  to  him,  with  what  an  enduring  beacon  he  was  bright- 
ening the  future  of  his  country.  In  the  light  of  our  history 
since  then  are  we  not  right  in  thinking  that  we  owe  that 
critical  and  important  appointment  less  to  the  wisdom  and 
foresight  of  President  and  Senate  than  to  the  gracious  guid- 
ance of  a  divine  overruling  Providence?  Certainly  we  all  feel 
tonight  concerning  our  guest  and  his  long  term  of  invaluable 
service,  that  he  has  been  the  gift  and  messenger  to  us,  and  all 
his  associates,  of  Him  in  whose  name  and  for  whose  enthrone- 
ment in  the  hearts  of  young  men  this  whole  work  from  the 
beginning  has  been  established  and  conducted." 


THE  PROBLEM  OP  THE  CHAIRMANSHIP  287 

Term  of  Elbert  B.  Monroe  as  Chairman 
1892-1894 

The  loss  of  its  Chairman  was  not  the  only  bereavement 
suffered  by  the  Committee  in  this  difficult  year.  With  him  the 
senior  member  and  Vice-Chairman,  James  Stokes,  also  with- 
drew to  the  Advisory  Board.  Early  in  the  autumn  the  Treas- 
urer, Benjamin  C.  Wetmore,  after  serving  as  chairman  for  a 
few  months,  resigned  and  was  not  available  even  as  an  ad- 
visory member.  Thus,  of  the  four  members  of  longest  and 
most  responsible  service,  three  almost  simultaneously  had 
withdrawn,  McBurney's  continuing  sympathy  and  coox)era- 
tion  seemed  more  indispensable  than  ever,  and  for  this  trying 
time  both  were  generously  given  and  were  invaluable  in  mak- 
ing our  choice  of  a  new  Chairman. 

Among  the  advisory  members  there  was  an  ex-president  of 
the  New  York  Association,  who  in  that  office  had  served  two 
terms,  of  which  the  second  was  due  to  his  having  suggested 
and  led  in  creating  the  metropolitan  organization.  My  own 
intercourse  with  him  had  become  intimate  ever  since  our  fel- 
lowship in  connection  with  his  gift  of  Dwight  Hall  to  the 
Yale  Association.^  Elbert  B.  Monroe  also  himself  fully  appre- 
ciated the  critical  character  of  the  situation,  and  when  the 
unanimous  choice  of  the  Committee  was  presented  to  him 
by  McBurney  and  myself,  he  consented  to  serve,  and  entered 
upon  the  office  in  December,  1892,  six  months  before  the  Inter- 
national Convention  of  1893  was  to  meet  in  Indianapolis. 
After  fourteen  months  of  uncertainty  we  rejoiced  in  such  a 
solution  of  this  difficult  problem  as  yielded  expectation  of 
a  long  and  efficient  administration — a  hope  and  promise  in 
which  we  were  to  be  sadly  disappointed. 

McBurney  had  joined  heartily  in  seeking  and  finding  the 
new  Chairman,  confidently  expecting  that  this  would  open 
for  him  the  path  to  withdrawal  from  an  active  connection  with 
the  Committee  which  had  become  an  overtax  upon  his  strength. 
Against  such  a  step  on  his  part,  however,  he  encountered  an 
effective  protest  from  the  friend  upon  whom  he  had  urged  the 
chairmanship.     Release  from   some   of  the   burdens  he  was 

»  Pp.  333-7. 


288  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

carrying  was  eagerly  proffered,  and  his  connection  with  the 
Committee  was  continued  for  a  season. 

During  this  period  of  transition  and  financial  retrenchment 
one  difficult  problem  had  been  solved.  With  equal  promptness 
an  acceptable  Treasurer  was  secured  by  the  election  to  that 
office  of  Frederick  B.  Schenck,  who  was  then  cashier,  and  a 
few  years  later  became  president  of  the  Mercantile  National 
Bank,  and  afterward  of  the  Liberty  Bank.  For  ten  years 
(1889-1898)  he  was  president  of  the  Brooklyn  Association, 
and  had  been  elected  a  member  of  the  Committee  by  the  Con- 
vention of  1891.  He  continued  the  Committee's  trusted  and 
efficient  Treasurer  for  over  twenty  years,  until  his  death  in 
1913.  During  his  tenure  of  office  the  annual  expenditure  in- 
creased from  175,000  on  the  home  and  $12,700  on  the  foreign 
field,  to  1362,826  on  the  home  and  |353,237  on  the  foreign 
field.  He  was  deeply  interested  in  all  departments  of  the 
work,  and  served  with  fidelity  on  the  Finance,  Foreign  Work, 
and  Executive  Committees. 

Beginning  of  a  Business  Man's  Administration 

Only  a  Chairman  as  masterful  as  Cephas  Brainerd  would 
have  carried  as  long  as  he  did  so  much  of  the  responsibility  of 
a  work  which  was  developing  steadily  a  growing  variety  of 
many  branches  or  departments.  But  even  he  had  begun  to 
yield  to  a  brotherly  pressure  from  his  associates,  and  before 
the  close  of  his  administration  he  distributed  some  part  of 
his  burden  to  sub-committees. 

His  i^osition  as  Chairman  he  felt  obligated  him  to  seek  a 
commanding  relation  to  every  department  of  the  Committee's 
activity.  And  he  believed  every  International  Secretary 
should  seek  and  acquire  capacity  to  serve — to  use  his  own 
term — "as  an  all-round  Secretary."  Departmental  Secretaries 
should  seek  such  capacity.  For  thirteen  years  Weidensall 
was  known  in  the  Year  Book  as  "Western  Secretary."  The 
emphasis  of  his  work  was  at  the  West.  This  continued  after 
1882,  but  after  that  date  the  Chairman  preferred  that  the 
term  Western  should  be  dropped,  to  give  emphasis  to  the  fact 
that  Weidensall  was  not  wholly  confined  to  that  section.  With 
the  Railroad,  College,  and  other  Secretaries  this  policy  was 
attempted  and  the  single  title  of  Secretary  was  used  when  a 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  CHAIRMANSHIP  289 

departmental  title  could  have  been  employed.  This  policy  had 
had  its  advantages.  But  work, and  workers  were  coming  into 
au  era  of  greater  specialization,  owing  to  the  variety  of  ac- 
tivities developed  within  the  Association  Movement  and  in 
the  decade  following  Brainerd's  resignation  the  Educational, 
the  Army  and  Navy,  the  Boys',  and  the  County  Work  Secre- 
taries were  to  appear. 

In  1883  the  Convention,  in  adopting  the  Act  of  Incorpora- 
tion, added  to  the  working  quorum  in  New  York  a  group  of 
younger  men.  In  1885  the  Chairman  appointed  two  of  these — 
Henry  H.  Webster  and  Cleveland  H.  Dodge — a  sub-committee 
on  the  College  Work.  Of  Henry  Webster,  who  died  in  Janu- 
ary, 1891,  in  the  thirty-eighth  year  of  his  age,  McBurney 
wrote:  "In  his  departure  the  New  York  Association  met  with 
the  severest  loss  it  has  ever  sustained  in  its  religious  work." 
This  was  equally  true  of  him  in  his  relation  to  the  work  of 
the  International  Committee.  Cleveland  H.  Dodge  succeeded 
him  as  chairman  of  the  Student  Work  and  it  was  at  this  time 
(1891)  that  William  D.  Murray,  then  president  of  the  Plain- 
field  Association  and  a  member  of  the  New  Jersey  Committee, 
accepted  an  election  to  the  International  Committee  and  be- 
came an  associate  of  Mr.  Dodge  in  the  College  Work.  Both 
continued  to  give  devoted  efficient  life  service  to  this  work 
and  its  remarkable  staff  and  development,  on  both  the  home 
and  foreign  field. 

The  college  sub-committee  at  the  beginning  of  its  service 
(1885)  had  on  its  staff  as  College  Secretaries,  Luther  D.  Wish- 
ard,  College  Secretary  since  1877,  and  a  recent  associate, 
Charles  K.  Ober.  In  1888  Wishard  set  out  on  his  long  world 
tour  (1888-1892)  and  John  R.  Mott  joined  Ober  upon  the  col- 
lege staff.  In  1890  Ober  yielded  to  an  urgent  call  to  super- 
vision of  City  and  State  Work,  and  Mott  became  chief  Student 
Secretary.  With  him  were  associated  J.  Campbell  White  in 
1890  and  Fletcher  S.  Brockman  in  August  of  the  following 
year. 

Ever  since  the  beginning  of  the  Committee's  Railroad  De- 
partment, the  Chairman  had  placed  the  three  successive  Rail- 
road Secretaries,  Edwin  D.  Ingersoll,  1877,  H.  F.  Williams, 
1886-1889,  and  Clarence  J.  Hicks,  1889-1892,  in  a  reporting 
and  counseling  relation  to  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  as  the  mem- 


290  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

ber  of  the  Committee  specially  interested  in  the  Railroad 
Work. 

In  the  last  days  of  Brainerd's  administration  an  Educa- 
tional Dej)artment  was  being  planned.  Frederick  B.  Pratt 
had  become  a  member  of  the  Committee  and  was  appointed 
chairman  of  a  sub-committee  responsible  to  find  an  Educa- 
tional Secretary.  This  beginning  of  a  distribution  of  respon- 
sibility and  supervision  to  members  of  the  Committee  was 
made  by  Brainerd  during  his  administration  (18G7-1892).  In 
this  period  the  Committee  had  grown  from  a  membership  of 
five,  all  resident  in  New  York  City  and  vicinity,  to  a  Com- 
mittee of  forty  voting  and  eleven  advisory  members,  with  a 
Board  of  fifteen  Trustees.  From  among  these  the  working 
quorum  resident  in  New  York  City  was  composed  of  sixteen 
members  and  ten  Trustees. 

During  its  first  two  years  the  Committee  had  no  employed 
oflQcers.  Beginning  with  Robert  Weideusall  in  1868  and  my- 
self in  1869,  it  was  employing  in  1892  a  staff  of  twenty-two 
Secretaries  distributed  among  seven  departments  on  the  home 
field,  with  five  Secretaries  on  the  foreign  field — in  Japan,  India, 
and  South  America.  To  its  first  Convention  (1867)  at  the 
end  of  its  first  year  it  reported  an  expenditure  of  less  than 
$400.00,  For  the  year  of  Brainerd's  retirement  (1892)  the 
annual  expenditure  on  the  home  field  was  |65,877  and  on  the 
foreign  field  |11,037. 

The  time  was  ripe  for  a  distribution  of  Committee  members 
to  a  larger  number  of  departments  and  sub-committees.  A 
good  beginning  in  this  direction  was  promptly  accomplished 
by  the  new  Chairman,  with  business-like  efficiency.  Of  both 
the  Physical  and  Educational  Departments  Frederick  B.  Pratt 
became  chairman.  George  B.  Hodge  was  secured  by  Mr. 
Pratt's  agency  as  Educational  Secretary.  A  gradual  develop- 
ment of  the  Field  Department  by  Charles  K.  Ober  was  encour- 
aged. One  of  the  junior  members  of  the  Committee,  Richard 
M.  Colgate,  was  appointed  chairman  and  Cephas  Brainerd,  Jr., 
elected  upon  his  father's  retirement,  became  a  member  of  this 
sub-committee  and  served  acceptably  until  his  lamented  death 
the  following  year. 

In  this  year  also  Alfred  E.  Marling,  from  boyhood  identified 
with  the  work  in  the  Twenty-third  Street  Branch,  and  now 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  CHAIRMANSHIP  291 

the  very  capable  chairinau  of  the  Branch,  accepted  an  election 
to  the  Committee  and  began  to  be  identified  with  the  growth 
of  the  Field  Department.  As  early  as  1891  C.  K.  Ober  had 
removed  his  residence  to  Atlanta  and  in  the  following  year 
enlisted  as  his  associate  Hans  P.  Andersen.  Leaving  his  asso- 
ciate to  remain  in  that  section,  he  went  to  the  southwest, 
securing  for  that  district  in  1893  a  second  associate,  Cecil  L. 
Gates.  He  was  able  himself  to  remove  to  Chicago  and  in  1894 
to  obtain  for  the  northwest  Charles  S.  Ward  as  a  third  asso- 
ciate, with  headquarters  in  Minneapolis.  In  the  following  year 
he  secured  his  fourth  associate  in  William  B.  Millar,  for  the 
eastern  section,  with  headquarters  in  New  York  City,  where  he 
had  been  the  efficient  secretary  of  the  Twenty-third  Street 
Branch. 

In  1893,  at  the  suggestion  of  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  Charles 
F.  Cox,  a  leading  official  of  the  New  York  Central  Kailroad, 
joined  him  as  a  member  of  the  Committee  for  the  Railroad 
Department.  This  distribution  of  departmental  responsi- 
bilities to  the  members  of  the  Committee  was  accomplished 
with  wisdom  and  energj'.  It  met  with  hearty  cooperation 
from  the  departmental  Secretaries. 

The  Convention  of  1893 

When  the  new  administration  was  six  months  old,  the  Inter- 
national Convention  of  1893  met  in  Indianapolis  and  felt  the 
new  impulse  given  to  the  development  of  the  International 
Work.  The  Chairman  presented  the  report  of  the  Committee 
with  its  note  of  forward  movement,  and  the  new  Educational 
Secretary  brought  an  excellent  exhibit  of  that  department.  It 
was  an  outstanding  feature  of  the  proceedings,  the  beginning 
by  a  masterly  hand  of  a  method  of  presenting  the  values  of 
Association  work  destined  to  a  most  useful  development  by 
Secretary  Hodge.  Henry  M.  Moore,  a  Boston  member  of  the 
Committee,  was  not  the  only  delegate  who,  at  the  close  of  the 
Convention,  came  to  me  with  the  hearty  assurance  that  the 
Committee  had  made  no  mistake  in  their  choice  of  a  new 
Chairman. 

Robert  Weidensall,  Already  Honored,  Becomes  Honorary 
At  this  time  Robert  Weidensall,  like  Robert  McBurney,  was 


292  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

experiencing  painfully  the  effects  of  overwork.  He  urged  and 
insisted  on  the  acceptance  of  his  resignation.  Under  protest 
Committee  and  Convention  accepted  it,  to  take  effect  in  Octo- 
ber, 1893,  at  the  close  of  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  his  secretary- 
ship. 

This  decision  was  reached  by  him,  not  because  of  temporary 
disability  nor  with  any  thought  of  giving  up  his  work,  but 
because  of  his  noble  desire  to  occupy  the  years  of  mortal  life 
remaining  to  him  with  the  work  of  the  Committee  and  the 
brotherhood  as  a  volunteer  layman,  officer,  and  leader.  In 
point  of  fact  he  was  resigning  only  the  salary  that  he  was 
receiving,  accepting  a  nominal  stipend  that  he  might  continue 
in  the  blessed  fellowship  in  which  he  ranked  as  the  beloved 
senior  of  us  all.  So  he  continues  until  today,  entering  in 
October,  1917,  the  jubilee  year  of  his  unexampled  service. 

As  early  as  1873  he  began  to  plant  the  Association  in  the 
rural  field,  but  since  his  resignation  he  has  succeeded  as 
"Father  of  the  County  Work  and  Secretaryship"  in  enlisting 
men  for  this  office.  Thus  he  has  given  leadership,  permanence, 
and  extension  to  Association  work  among  the  young  men  who 
are  located  in  smaller  cities,  towns,  and  country  neighbor- 
hoods, and  who  still  constitute  the  majority  of  the  young  men 
on  the  continent. 

In  his  irrepressible  enthusiasm,  he  cherishes  the  hope  of 
achieving  another  new  departure,  outranking,  he  says,  any  he 
has  hitherto  pioneered.  Our  own  fellowship  as  a  pair  of 
seniors  continues  to  grow  in  tenderness  as  well  as  in  years 
and  we  are  looking  forward  to  the  celebration  in  1919  of  a 
jubilee  of  brotherly  cooperation ! 

With  the  encouragment  of  all  his  fellow  Secretaries,  at  the 
age  of  seventy-one  he  completed  a  remarkable  world  tour  of 
the  Associations — more  complete  in  the  number  of  countries 
and  Associations  visited  than  any  single  world  journey  yet 
accomplished  by  an  Association  leader.  Everywhere  he  re- 
ceived a  warm  welcome — especially  in  the  Orient,  where  his 
age  and  the  veteran  quality  of  his  message  commanded  a 
peculiar  respect  and  affection. 

To  the  Convention  of  1893  Chairman  Monroe  announced 
that  among  the  149  pamphlets  and  other  publications  of  the 
Committee  was  now  to  be  found  the  recently  issued  Hand  Book 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  CHAIRMANSHIP  293 

of  480  octavo  pages,  carefully  edited  by  Secretaries  Uhl,  Ninde, 
and  Glover  and  containing  in  one  volume  summary  account 
of  the  '^history,  organization,  and  methods  of  work"  of  the 
Association.  The  task  of  the  editors  had  been  to  condense 
and  classify,  under  this  title,  what  in  many  pamphlets  during 
a  period  of  many  years  had  been  published  by  the  Committee. 
The  value  of  it  was  increased  and  the  distribution  of  its  con- 
tents promoted  by  the  issue  of  its  different  chapters  in  sepa- 
rate pamphlet  form. 

The  Death  of  Elhert  B.  Monroe 

The  year  1894  was  the  year  of  Jubilee  of  the  parent  English 
speaking  Association  and  was  to  be  signalized  in  London  by 
the  meeting  there  of  the  World's  Conference  as  the  guest  of 
that  Association.  Our  new  Chairman  was  preparing  to  go 
with  a  larger  delegation  from  North  America  than  had  ever 
attended  one  of  these  conferences.  It  was  the  second  year 
of  an  administration  of  the  International  Work  which  was 
giving  bright  promise  of  growing  efficiency  in  every  depart- 
ment. 

Within  a  few  weeks  of  our  departure  for  London  with  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Monroe  and  Kobert  McBurney,  on  the  evening  of 
April  21st,  there  came  to  our  home  a  sad  telegram  from  Mrs. 
Monroe  announcing  the  sudden  death  of  her  husband  in  the 
flash  of  a  stroke  of  heart  failure.  It  was  a  shock  the  depress- 
ing influence  of  which  I  can  never  forget.  The  telegram  con- 
tained an  urgent  request  from  Mrs.  Monroe  that  Mrs.  Morse 
and  I  would  come  to  their  home  immediately.  In  ten  minutes 
we  were  on  our  way  to  pass  through  one  of  the  most  sorrowful 
experiences  of  our  lives.  It  was  the  sudden  ending  of  a  con- 
genial friendship  which  for  years  had  been  growing  in  strength 
and  intimacy.  For  the  past  two  years  a  delightful  consum- 
mation had  been  granted  us  in  our  brotherly  cooperation  as 
Chairman  and  General  Secretary.  In  one  of  his  Association 
addresses,  Mr.  Monroe  had  been  asked  to  define  the  ideal  rela- 
tion which  should  exist  between  the  president  and  the  execu- 
tive Secretary  of  an  Association.  With  fine  discrimination 
he  defined  it  as  "a  David  and  Jonathan  relationship — one  of 
perfect,  unalloj^ed  mutual  confidence."  It  was  this  beautiful 
satisfying  relation  which  had  been  realized  between  us.    The 


294  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

loss  of  his  counsel,  influence,  and  leadership  was  very  widely 
felt  in  the  sphere  of  Christian  work  at  home  and  abroad,  but 
probably  the  bereavement  was  nowhere  felt  so  seriously  as 
within  the  circle  of  his  associates  in  the  International  Com- 
mittee and  its  staff  of  Secretaries.  We  have  been  greatly 
blessed  in  our  home  life  in  the  continuance  of  the  warm  friend- 
ship of  Mrs.  Monroe,  who  has  remained  also  the  close  friend 
of  the  work  her  husband  laid  down  and  has  been  a  welcome 
guest  at  the  annual  meetings  of  the  Committee  and  its  Secre- 
taries. 

The  problem  of  the  chairmanship  had  been  solved  most 
satisfyingly.    But  the  solution  had  been  only  a  temporary  one. 

A  Second  Search  for  a  Chairman 

Mr.  Monroe's  tenure  of  office  had  been  brief,  less  than  two 
years  in  duration.  His  administration,  however,  was  a  vigor- 
ous one.  It  decisively  outlined  a  definite  and  wise  policy  in 
a  manner  helpful  to  his  successors  in  office.  In  seeking  a  new 
Chairman,  McBurney's  aid  as  counselor  was  heartily  wel- 
comed. It  was,  practically,  a  last  service  from  him,  for  he 
could  not  consistently  consent  to  be  part  of  another  adminis- 
tration. From  the  beginning  of  the  Committee's  work  in  18GG 
he  had  been  deeply  and  actively  interested  in  every  extension 
of  it.  And  now  in  leaving  because  of  failing  strength,  his  chief 
regret  was  that  he  could  not  continue  longer  as  Chairman 
of  the  Foreign  Work,  one  of  the  latest  and  the  most  promising 
of  these  many  extensions. 

Cleveland  H.  Dodge  also  at  this  time  joined  him  in  with- 
drawing to  the  advisory  membership.  This  double  loss  pro- 
longed the  period  of  sore  bereavement  through  which  I  was 
passing.  Within  the  Committee  there  was  anxious  delibera- 
tion. Should  one  of  the  older  or  one  of  the  younger  men  be 
chosen?  Among  the  seniors  Mr.  Schenck,  the  Treasurer,  was 
approached.  He  was  sympathetic  and,  as  always,  willing  to 
give  what  was  within  his  power  of  time,  effort,  and  leadership. 
But  on  sober  second  thought  he  was  convinced  that  in  his 
position  as  cashier  of  a  bank  he  had  not  enough  command  of 
his  time  to  undertake  the  office. 

Among  the  younger  men  on  the  Committee  the  outstanding 
choice  was  Cleveland  H.  Dodge,  the  very  capable  president  of 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  CHAIRMANSHIP  295 

the  New  York  Association  and  the  head  of  our  Student  Work. 
But  his  retirement  and  McBurney's  conviction  that  the  officers 
and  friends  of  that  Association,  including  himself,  were 
already  overtaxed  by  the  International  Committee  and  its 
work,  prevented  this  satisfactory  solution  of  our  problem. 
This  situation  recalled  vividly  the  similar  one  of  18G6  when 
the  Convention  in  creating  the  Committee  named  the  father  of 
Cleveland  Dodge  as  its  Chairman,  a  position  he  felt  obliged 
to  decline  because  of  his  commanding  and  absorbing  work  as 
President  of  the  New  York  Association  and  leader  of  the 
canvass  for  its  first  building, 

Frederick  B.  Pratt,  the  head  of  Pratt  Institute,  was  already 
the  capable  chairman  of  two  sub-committees,  and  a  Director 
of  the  Brooklyn  Association.  In  the  judgment  of  all  of  us 
he  was  possessed  of  the  needed  qualifications,  but  would  only 
consent  to  make  trial  of  the  office  for  one  year,  as  an  emer- 
gency Chairman.  His  entrance  upon  this  conditional  term  was 
heartily  agreed  to,  and  into  the  purpose  and  plan  of  his  prede- 
cessor he  cordially  entered,  continuing  to  place  increasing 
responsibility  on  sub-committees,  and  upon  the  chief  Secretary 
of  each  department. 

A  Reenforcement  of  Committeemen 

In  this  period  of  loss  and  crises  the  depleted  membership 
of  the  Committee  was  repaired  by  the  reception  of  welcome 
members.  Among  them  were  William  D.  Murray,  afterward 
Vice-Chairman,  and  now  (1917)  for  twenty-five  years  an  active 
member  on  several  committees;  Dr.  Lucien  C.  Warner — for 
fifteen  years  Chairman ;  Alfred  E.  Marling,  for  fifteen  years 
Vice-Chairman  and  now  in  the  seventh  year  of  his  remarkable 
chairmanship;  Colonel  John  J.  McCook,  who  succeeded  Cor- 
nelius Vanderbilt  as  Chairman  of  the  Railroad  Committee,  A 
few  years  later  elections  were  accepted  by  William  Sloane, 
now  Vice-Chairman  of  the  Committee,  and  chairman  of  the 
National  War  Work  Council  of  1917,  and  Dr.  John  P,  Munn, 
who  succeeded  Colonel  McCook  as  head  of  the  Railroad  De- 
partment, 

By  such  timely  reenforcements  the  membership  of  the  Com- 
mittee was  strengthened  and  the  strong  leadership  of  its  first 
period  was  continued  as  Dr,  D.  H.  McAlpin  became  Chairman 


296  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

of  the  Rural  and  Wm.  Jay  Schiefifelin  of  the  Colored  Work, 
Marcellus  Hartley  Dodge  and  John  Sherman  Hoyt  of  the 
Industrial,  Roger  H.  Williams  of  the  Student,  and  N.  W.  Ayer 
and  Wilfred  W.  Fry  of  the  Boys'  Work. 

Early  in  this  interesting  period  (1893)  the  Committee  began 
to  hold  its  annual  meeting  with  its  Secretaries,  now  twenty 
in  number,  in  September  at  the  opening  of  the  working  season. 
For  ten  years  preceding  this,  it  had  been  held  toward  the  close 
of  the  fiscal  and  calendar  year  near  the  date  of  the  anniversary 
dinner.  The  change  made  a  longer  session  and  deliberation 
practicable. 

It  was  in  this  period  also  that  Secretary  Mott  brought  to 
his  immediate  associates  his  intimate  persuasive  message  con- 
cerning the  morning  watch  and  its  sacred  devout  observance. 
Response  to  this  message  has  proved  an  incalculable  blessing 
to  many  of  us  closely  associated  with  him  and  to  a  great  multi- 
tude, who  have  been  influenced  by  him  through  words  written 
and  printed,  as  well  as  spoken. 

The  Problem  op  the  Chairmanship  Solved 

Soon  after  the  Convention  of  1895,  at  the  close  of  his  year 
as  temporary  Chairman,  Frederick  B.  Pratt,  after  having 
become  acquainted  with  the  duties  of  the  oflSce,  reached  the 
conclusion  that  consistently  with  his  other  responsibilities  he 
could  not  accept  the  position.  But  he  has  continued  to  the 
present  time  his  patient  and  effective  Chairmanship  of  the 
Educational  Committee  and  during  its  formative  years  ren- 
dered sterling  service  as  Chairman  of  the  Physical  Depart- 
ment until  this  office  was  with  equal  efficiency  filled  by  his 
brother,  George  D.  Pratt. 

A  chairman  was  now  sought  for  among  the  senior  members 
of  the  Committee  and  the  choice  was  not  a  difficult  one.  Since 
the  withdrawal  from  the  active  membership  in  1892,  of 
Brainerd,  Stokes,  and  Wetmore,  and  before  the  retirement 
of  McBurney  and  Dodge,  several  new  members  as  already 
mentioned  had  been  added,  chosen  from  among  men  of  long 
experience  in  Association  work.  Of  these  Dr.  Lucien  C. 
Warner  was  a  first  choice  of  the  Committee  for  its  Chairman. 
Under  his  leadership  the  Harlem  Branch  of  the  New  York 
Association  had  secured  its  building,  and  the  work  for  young 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  CHAIRMANSHIP  297 

men  in  that  section  of  the  city  had  been  strongly  established. 
For  many  years  he  had  been  prominently  identified  with  the 
work  of  the  New  York  State  Committee,  and  was  experienced 
in  the  various  phases  of  Association  supervision.  During 
Monroe's  administration,  Dr.  Warner  had  been  in  full  sym- 
pathy with  its  plan  and  purpose,  and  in  September,  1895,  he 
was  unanimouslj^  chosen  his  successor.  Like  Monroe,  he  was  a 
man  of  fine  business  capacity  and  a  trusted  leader  in  his  own 
church  and  denomination,  and  his  election  was  in  accord  with 
Association  loyalty  to  the  churches. 

During  his  administration  of  fifteen  years — 1895-1911 — the 
work  of  the  Committee  kept  pace  in  its  enlargement  with  the 
remarkable  growth  of  the  North  American  Associations  in  the 
dimensions  and  variety  of  their  work  among  young  men  of 
many  classes.  The  annual  expenditure  for  the  home  work 
increased  from  |63,000  to  ^301,000  and  for  the  foreign  work 
from  121,000  to  §228,000.  To  provide  this  development  of  the 
Committee's  work  and  its  resources,  a  steady  increase  in  the 
number  of  well  selected  Committee  members  and  of  equally 
well  selected  Secretaries  was  needed. 

The  strong  feature  in  the  administrations  of  the  three  Chair- 
men (1892-1911)  following  Mr.  Brainerd,  was  the  growth  of 
the  departments  and  the  distribution  to  each  department  sub- 
committee and  its  secretarial  staff  of  responsibility  for  its 
development  and  support.  The  word  department  at  that  time 
included  what  are  now  (1916)  termed  councils  and  bureaus, 
viz..  Secretarial,  Physical,  Educational,  Industrial,  Biblical, 
Evangelistic,  Boys,  Publication,  Business,  etc.  This  distribu- 
tion was  steadily  accomplished  and  accepted  by  chairmen  and 
sub-committee  men.  Strong  leadership  was  given  by  the  Secre- 
taries. By  this  method  to  each  department  and  its  chief  Secre- 
tary an  opportunity  was  opened  to  make  progress  on  the  same 
lines  of  self-support  and  enlargement  on  which  in  Brainerd's 
administration  the  whole  work  of  the  Committee  and  of  its 
General  Secretary  had  been  steadily  enlarged. 

Many  hard  questions  and  diflScult  problems  were  encoun- 
tered in  dealing  with  successive  Conventions.  An  important 
controversy  was  encountered  and  settled  satisfactorily.  In 
every  emergency  Dr.  Warner  proved  himself  a  wise,  thought- 
ful, safe  leader,  patient  with  difficulties,  guided  by  the  sound 


298  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

common  sense  of  a  strong,  successful  man  of  business  and  an 
earnest,  devout  Christian  worker. 

A  Surprising  Episode 

A  very  delightful  surprise,  of  a  personal  nature,  came  to 
me  on  the  afternoon  of  February  20,  1895.  While  I  was  at 
work  in  my  home  office,  Cleveland  H.  Dodge  called  to  ask  me 
to  attend  with  him  an  important  committee  meeting  at  the 
Twenty-third  Street  building,  expressing  regret  that  no  notice 
of  it  had  reached  me.  Thinking  that  the  meeting  must  in 
some  way  relate  to  the  theme  of  some  recent  discussions  we 
had  had  regarding  the  growth  of  the  International  Work,  I 
assented. 

On  reaching  the  Association  parlor  we  found  Chairman 
Pratt  presiding  at  the  meeting,  and  I  was  asked  to  take  a  seat 
by  him.  I  recognized  the  rather  unusual  presence  at  a  com- 
mittee meeting  of  Cephas  Brainerd,  Morris  K.  Jesup,  Corne- 
lius Vanderbilt,  Henry  M.  Moore  of  Boston,  Mrs.  Frederick 
Billings,  and  other  friends.  Mrs.  Morse,  who  for  several 
months  past  had  been  confined  to  the  house,  was  there  in  the 
care  of  her  doctor  and  with  her  father.  My  older  brother, 
Sidney  E.  Morse,  also  was  present.  This  was  certainly  a  sur- 
prising gathering  for  a  committee  meeting !  Robert  McBurney, 
though  a  chief  promoter,  as  usual  was  not  in  the  limelight. 

The  Chairman,  however,  quickly  enlightened  me  with  the 
information  that  the  gathering  was  occasioned  by  the  fact 
that  I  had  recently  completed,  in  December,  the  twenty-fifth 
year  of  my  connection  with  the  International  Committee,  and 
that  these  friends  had  come  to  congratulate  me.  I  then  began 
to  see  the  fine  but  hidden  hand  of  Robert  McBurney  in  this 
transaction. 

In  succession  Messrs.  Jesup,  Vanderbilt,  Moore,  and 
Brainerd  spoke  in  friendly  fashion  of  what  they  conceived  to 
be  the  valuable  service  I  had  rendered  in  this  work  for  young 
men.  In  making  mention  of  what  he  considered  my  excellent 
qualities,  Mr,  Brainerd  made  more  extended  remarks  than  the 
others,  commenting  especially  upon  a  "diplomatic  ability,"  of 
which  he  believed  I  was  possessed,  and  which  he  "deemed  of 
sufficient  excellence  to  qualify  me  for  any  important  position 
in  the  diplomatic  service  of  our  country." 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  CHAIRMANSHIP  299 

The  last  speaker  was  Cleveland  H.  Dodge,  who  expressed 
regret  for  the  unavoidable  absence  of  his  father,  in  whose 
name,  as  well  as  in  his  own,  he  expressed  friendship  and  appre- 
ciation. As  commentary  on  what  he  and  the  other  speakers 
had  said,  and  as  an  expression  of  the  regard  cherished  for  me 
by  many  friends,  he  presented  me  with  a  generous  and  sub- 
stantial reminder  of  this  commemoration.  The  response  ex- 
pected from  me  was  naturally  as  inadequate  as  the  embarrass- 
ment of  the  moment  was  genuine. 

Personal  congratulations  followed,  and  then  Mrs.  Morse 
and  I  went  to  our  home  together,  very  happy  over  the  delight- 
ful "committee  meeting"  and  grateful  to  God  and  to  His  mes- 
senger, our  beloved  friend,  for  this  token  of  an  ever  thoughtful, 
unfailing,  and  true  affection. 


CHAPTER  XV 

TWO  IMPORTANT  CONVERSATIONS 

With  John  R.  Mott 
1895 

The  Student  Volunteer  and  Bible  study  message  which 
Kynaston  Studd,  on  his  wedding  journey  in  1885,  brought  to 
the  International  Secretaries  at  Northfield,  and  then  through 
them  to  our  College  Associations,  was  the  beginning  of  an 
intercourse  between  the  Christian  students  of  both  continents. 
This  transatlantic  intercourse  was  steadily  fostered  at  the 
Northfield  Conference  and  resulted  in  visits  to  European  uni- 
versities by  Reynolds  and  Wishard,  and  then  in  1894  in  the 
stronger  leadership  of  John  R.  Mott. 

Studd's  strong  personal  message,  without  suggestion  as 
to  organization,  was  helpful  to  our  Student  Work  and  was  the 
forerunner  of  the  stronger  message  brought  to  us,  two  or  three 
years  later,  from  Scotland  by  Henry  Drummond.  In  his  first 
visit  to  Europe  in  1891,  Mott  came  into  intimate  touch  with 
Christian  representatives  of  universities  of  several  countries. 
The  first  organization,  resulting  especially  from  the  work  of 
Robert  P.  Wilder,  was  the  formation  in  Great  Britain  of  its 
Student  Volunteer  Missionary  Union,  with  Donald  Eraser  as 
a  visiting,  promoting,  and  organizing  Secretary.  The  invita- 
tion of  this  Union  to  Mott,  as  a  Student  Volunteer  leader,  gave 
to  him  in  1894  an  opportunity  to  visit  officially  some  of  the 
British  universities,  to  bring  a  message  to  delegates  from  these 
universities  in  the  Student  Conference  at  Keswick  and  to 
promote  the  formation  by  them  of  the  "British  College  Chris- 
tian Union,"  since  then  reorganized  and  known  as  the  Student 
Christian  Movement  of  Great  Britain. 

As  of  first  importance,  he  also  promoted  the  securing  of 
Donald  Eraser,  for  a  year,  as  the  salaried  visiting  and  organiz- 
ing Secretary  of  the  new  movement.    Then  the  brief  address 

300 


TWO  IMPORTANT  CONVERSATIONS  301 

he  made  on  the  Student  Work  at  the  Jubilee  World's  Confer- 
ence in  London  was  so  impressive  as  to  prompt  Prince  Berna- 
dotte  to  invite  him  to  meet — during  the  summer  of  1895 — 
with  the  students  of  the  Scandinavian  universities.  Similar 
invitations  were  extended  to  him  to  attend,  during  the  same 
summer,  conferences  of  Christian  students  in  Great  Britain, 
Germany,  and  Switzerland.  He  was  also  assured  of  a  welcome 
from  workers  among  students  in  India  and  Japan.  Later, 
when  word  came  to  missionaries  in  the  Levant  and  China  that 
a  world  tour  by  him  was  becoming  practicable,  he  was  urged 
to  visit  workers  among  students  in  these  lands. 

A  World  Journey  Planned 

The  project  and  promise  of  this  world  journey,  in  the  in- 
terests of  a  World  Student  Movement  and  organization,  were 
ardently  shared  with  Mott  by  Luther  Wishard,  his  senior  in 
Student  Work,  who  also  had  preceded  him  in  a  world  journey. 
Wishard  was  now  at  the  home  base  as  Secretary  for  the 
Foreign  Work  of  the  International  Committee.  The  Secre- 
taries to  whom  he  was  related,  in  India,  China,  and  Japan, 
had  stimulated  some  of  the  six  invitations  Mott  had  received, 
and  they  promised  to  be  among  his  strongest  helpers  on  his 
student  errand  in  those  countries. 

It  was  the  plan  of  Mott  to  bring  together  at  the  student 
meeting  in  Sweden,  during  August,  1895,  representatives  from 
as  many  countries  as  possible,  beginning  with  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  and  the  Student  Movements  of  Britain, 
Germany,  and  Scandinavia.  If  the  number  of  countries  repre- 
sented, and  the  wishes  of  the  delegates  favored  it,  a  World's 
Federation  of  Christian  Students  was  to  be  formed.  Mott 
would  then  continue  his  journey  around  the  world  and  Wish- 
ard would  visit  South  Africa,  before  returning  to  his  work  at 
home.  The  beginning  of  this  arrangement  was  duly  reported 
by  the  Committee  to  the  Convention  of  1895  at  Springfield, 
Massachusetts. 

Wishard's  recent  experience  in  his  world  journey  of  three 
years,  Mott's  more  recent  and  successful  work  in  Europe,  and 
my  own  experience  in  the  World's  Conferences,  led  us  to  feel 
a  growing  confidence  in  what  could  be  accomplished  around 
the  world  on  the  lines  of  Association  work,  by  American  sug- 


302  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

gestion  and  initiative.  In  hearty  sympathy  with  this  project 
of  my  junior  associates,  I  only  regretted  that  it  was  not  pos- 
sible to  go  with  them  at  least  as  far  as  Sweden,  but  I  joined 
them  earnestly  in  seeking  and  securing  leave  of  absence  from 
the  Committee,  and  also  rendered  such  help  as  I  could  on  the 
two  special  funds  needed  to  provide — entirely  outside  of  the 
Committee's  treasury — for  the  two  journeys.  As  the  treasurer 
of  both  funds,  I  offered  also  all  possible  cooperation  during 
their  absence  with  their  associates  and  representatives.  The 
Committee  granted  Mott  leave  of  absence,  expecting  that  on 
his  return  he  would  continue  as  its  chief  Student  Secretary — 
an  expectation  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  this  oflSce  carried 
with  it  at  that  time  his  chairmanship  of  the  Student  Volunteer 
Movement. 

The  Object  of  the  Conversation 

It  was  a  critical  turning-point  at  which  he  was  arriving 
in  the  remarkable  career  manifestly  before  him,  and  I  was 
persuaded  that  in  him  the  Committee  had  an  employed  officer 
not  only  twenty-five  years  younger  than  their  General  Secre- 
tary, but  one  with  more  ability  to  serve  in  that  office  in  rela- 
tion to  a  work  already  large,  but  destined  to  a  remarkable 
and  rapid  growth,  both  at  home  and  abroad.  For  seven  years 
he  had  been  on  the  student  staff  of  the  Committee  and  for 
five  of  these  at  the  head  of  its  Student  Department,  and  his 
qualities  of  strong,  unexampled  leadership  in  this  department 
were  apparent  to  his  immediate  associates. 

In  handling  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  and  its  first 
two  conventions — of  which  the  second  one  in  1894  was  the 
stronger — both  he  and  Kobert  E.  Speer  had  become  widely 
and  favorably  known.  To  both  of  these  conventions  more 
undergraduates  had  come  than  to  any  other  undergraduate 
student  convention  called  together  for  serious  discussion. 
Here  they  were  summoned  to  a  great  undertaking  commanding 
enthusiastic,  sacrificial  enlistment  for  life. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  regard  to  my  own  continuance  in 
office,  I  realized  that  on  Mott's  return  in  1897  I  would  reach 
the  age  of  fifty-six.  For  years,  to  both  McBurney  and  myself, 
tarrying  in  office  beyond  the  age  of  sixty  without  a  junior 
associate  fully  qualified  for  the  positions  we  held,  had  seemed 


TWO  IMPORTANT  CONVERSATIONS  303 

very  hazardous.  The  solution  of  my  problem  was  to  find  for 
the  Committee  a  man  of  whose  capacity  to  care  for  the  whole 
work  they  could  be  satisfied,  but  before  Mott  no  such  Secre- 
tary had  appeared  on  the  staff.  These  convictions  led  to  an 
interview  with  him  on  the  Northfield  campus  toward  the  close 
of  the  Conference  of  1895,  when  he  was  on  the  eve  of  setting 
out  on  this  world  journey. 

Presenting  to  him  the  situation  from  my  point  of  view,  I 
asked  whether  he  could  favorably  consider  undertaking,  on  his 
return  in  1897,  the  General  Secretaryship.  In  such  an  event, 
if  it  was  desired,  I  was  willing  to  continue  as  a  fellow  Secre- 
tary, working  as  strenuously  as  heretofore,  in  relation  to  the 
various  phases  of  Association  supervision,  as  he  should  have 
occasion  to  need  such  help.  No  thought  was  in  my  mind  other 
than  giving  the  remainder  of  my  life  and  strength  to  such 
supervisory,  or  other  Association  service  as  I  was  best  fitted 
for. 

Mott  could  not  respond  favorably  to  this  appeal,  because 
his  obligations  as  a  Student  Volunteer  seemed  to  him  to  forbid 
his  acceptance  of  such  a  position.  This  attitude  reminded  me 
of  how  slow  he  had  been,  some  years  before,  to  give  up  going 
out  upon  the  foreign  field,  when  he  had  offered  himself  for  a 
special  work  in  India  and  when  he  was  led  to  remain  in  the 
interest  of  developing  further  the  missionary  side  of  the  Move- 
ment. Indeed,  during  that  period  of  the  early  Volunteer  Con- 
ventions, among  the  growing  band  of  Volunteers,  confident 
hope  and  expectation  were  often  quietly  but  strongly  ex- 
pressed, that  a  final  permanent  settlement  upon  some  section 
of  the  foreign  field  would  be  accomplished  by  both  Mott  and 
Speer — the  most  able  and  conspicuous  among  Student  Volun- 
teers, yet  both  "detained  at  the  home  base." 

I  did  not  at  all  share  this  feeling,  for  both  experience  and 
observation  had  convinced  me  that  there  is  a  class  of  so-called 
"hindered  volunteers"  who,  by  serving  officially  at  the  home 
base,  accomplish  far  more  for  the  work  on  the  foreign  field 
than  they  could  possibly  accomplish  by  spending  their  own 
lives  in  foreign  lands. 

Although  the  interview  ended  without  immediate  favorable 
reply  from  him,  I  cherished  the  hope  that  on  his  return,  with 
further  light  on  his  path,  a  different  final  decision  might  be 


304  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

reached.  Upon  his  return  in  1897  while  all  I  had  asked  was 
not  granted,  gradually  what  was  continuing  of  my  relations 
to  Northfield  and  to  the  Student  and  Foreign  Work  of  the 
Committee  began  to  pass  over  completely  to  him.  To  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  was  added  the  leadership  of 
the  World's  Student  Christian  Federation.  The  time  for  a 
more  favorable  response — the  time  in  the  divine  plan  for  him 
— had  not  yet  come.  Such  calls  as  had  come  and  were  coming 
to  him  from  his  own  and  other  universities,  from  Moody, 
President  Harper,  and  from  the  foreign  mission  field,  did  not 
prevail  upon  him  to  leave  the  path  in  which  he  was  accomplish- 
ing so  much  in  Association  work  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

In  this  year  the  problem  of  the  chairmanship,  after  pro- 
tracted uncertainty  (1892-95),  had  been  solved  so  satisfac- 
torily that  no  period  of  doubt  concerning  that  important  oflSce 
has  since  been  experienced  by  the  Committee.  But  in  the  light 
of  what  followed  it,  this  conversation  might  be  called  the 
beginning  of  a  more  protracted  solution  of  the  problem  of  the 
General  Secretaryship.  For  it  prepared  the  way,  as  this  nar- 
rative will  disclose,  for  what  proved  to  be  for  some  years  a 
partial  solution  of  the  problem  and  then,  out  of  an  experience 
of  a  decade  or  more,  in  the  fulness  of  time  the  final  satisfying 
solution  was  secured.  It  was  a  long  period  not  of  patient 
waiting,  but  of  patient,  strenuous  activity  and  leadership 
toward  the  goal  of  my  hope  and  prayer. 

One  quiet  but  most  critically  important  achievement  of  Mott 
upon  his  return  was  his  successful  effort  (1900)  to  induce 
Cleveland  H.  Dodge  to  resume  his  active  membership  in  the 
Committee.  By  his  retirement  to  the  Advisory  Board  in  1895 
the  Committee  had  experienced  a  great  loss,  especially  in  its 
intercollegiate  work.  Mr.  Dodge  had  been  identified  with  this 
work  at  its  origin  as  an  undergraduate,  and  on  the  sub-com- 
mittee of  the  Student  Department  he  had  served  since  its 
appointment.  It  would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  vital 
importance  to  the  Association's  world  message  and  mission, 
of  this  recovery  of  an  indispensable  helper  and  leader.  He 
returned  not  only  to  the  Chairmanship  of  the  Committee's 
Student  Department,  but  to  a  virile  relation  to  all  that  vitally 
concerned  the  best  interests  and  efficiency  of  Association  work 
for  young  men  and  boys  throughout  the  world. 


TWO  IMPORTANT  CONVERSATIONS  306 

With  Robert  R,  McBurney 
1896 

A  year  later,  in  the  autumn  of  1896,  there  took  place  another 
interview,  really  of  several  days'  duration,  which  I  often 
recall,  and  always  with  devout  gratitude.  The  withdrawal  of 
McBurney  in  1895  from  the  active  to  the  advisory  membership 
of  the  Committee  had  been  and  continued  a  source  of  painful 
regret.  The  regret  was  inevitable  and  was  submitted  to  cheer- 
fully because  his  physical  condition  demanded  such  with- 
drawal, but  the  pain  was  occasioned  by  the  other  reason  which 
had  weighed  with  him  in  his  decision :  his  convictions  (1)  that 
the  International  Work  was  growing,  under  excessive  promo- 
tion of  it,  beyond  what  was  desirable  or  necessary,  and  that 
(2)  a  growth  of  the  State  Work  of  supervision  could  take  the 
place  of  the  proposed  development  of  the  International  Work. 
He  knew  that  my  belief  was  that  these  agencies  of  supervision 
should  grow  together,  and  that  I  felt  obligated  to  continue  to 
promote  growth  in  this  twofold  direction. 

Until  his  last  illness  our  offices  at  40  East  23rd  Street  (1887- 
1898)  were  in  the  same  small  building  and  all  the  Interna- 
tional Secretaries  were  his  personal  friends.  He  was  a  wise 
counselor,  incessantly  resorted  to  by  them.  This  intercourse 
was  not  interrupted  by  his  ceasing  to  attend  International 
Committee  meetings  and  at  the  three-day  annual  meetings  of 
the  Committee  with  its  Secretaries,  held  each  September,  he 
was  a  welcome  and  valued  guest  whenever  he  could  come. 

At  the  same  time,  equally  intimate  was  his  intercourse  with 
State  Secretaries  George  A.  Hall  and  Fred  S.  Goodman,  of  the 
New  York  Committee.  With  their  work,  which  ranked  with 
the  best  state  supervision,  he  was  strongly  identified,  as  the 
most  influential  member  of  the  New  York  Committee.  The 
headquarters  were  at  Poughkeepsie,  the  home  of  the  Chairman, 
Edmund  P.  Piatt.  In  New  York  City,  McBurney's  office  and 
his  tower  room  were  the  resort  of  the  State  Secretaries.  Thus 
he  kept  in  intimate  touch  with  both  agencies  of  supervision 
and  their  secretarial  force. 

First  Meetings  of  the  Committee  with  Its  Staff 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  Committee  with  all  its  Secre- 


306  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

taries  began  in  a  dinner  meeting  held  in  McBurney's  tower 
room  in  December,  1882,  In  1884,  and  several  succeeding 
years,  the  Secretaries,  on  coming  to  the  city  for  the  annual 
dinner,  spent  the  day  in  our  home  at  139  East  18th  Street. 
There  were  then  only  ten  Secretaries  on  the  stafif,  and  for  some 
years  only  these  and  McBurney  were  invited.  The  morning 
and  afternoon  were  spent  in  our  parlor  and  library  on  the 
second  floor,  going  over  each  man's  work  for  the  year  past, 
and  the  program  of  his  department  for  the  coming  year. 

Luncheon  was  a  time  of  great  sociability  and  enjoyment,  for 
Mrs.  Morse  insisted  that  we  must  not  "talk  shop,"  but  have 
a  good  time  together  at  the  table.  On  one  occasion  the  ques- 
tion was  raised  as  to  how  many  and  what  denominations  were 
represented.  It  was  suggested  that  we  should  guess  the  church 
to  which  each  man  belonged,  and  several  amusing  mistakes 
were  made — indeed  there  were  few  correct  guesses. 

As  Secretaries  were  added  to  the  staff,  the  company  became 
in  time  too  numerous  to  be  accommodated  in  our  small  home, 
and  with  great  reluctance  we  were  obliged,  when  the  number 
passed  fourteen,  to  give  up  having  them  there.  The  meeting 
became  too  important  in  its  relation  to  the  work  to  be  confined 
to  Secretaries,  or  to  be  held  so  far  on  in  the  working  year  as 
the  date  of  the  annual  December  dinner,  which  in  its  turn 
was  rapidly  growing  in  the  attendance  of  guests  of  the  Com- 
mittee. In  its  ninth  year — 1893 — it  was  entitled  the  "annual 
setting-up  meeting  of  the  Committee  and  all  its  Secretaries," 
and  the  date  was  changed  to  early  in  September,  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  working  year. 

For  some  time  after  this  change,  very  few  of  the  members 
of  the  Committee  attended  this  meeting.  In  1896  we  met  at 
New  London,  when  we  numbered  twenty-eight  Secretaries. 
Our  friend  and  comrade — McBurney — was  the  only  Commit- 
teeman present.  He  had  been  the  previous  year  at  Pough- 
keepsie,  where  the  meeting  was  held,  and  during  the  three 
days  had  been  in  every  session.  The  reports  of  progress  were 
encouraging,  but  during  the  financial  depression  since  the 
crash  of  1893,  retrenchment  had  been  the  rule  in  adopting  the 
annual  budget.  Now  in  1896  there  was  an  irresistible  demand 
for  an  increase  which  must  stop  retrenchment. 

During  the  intervals  of  our  sessions,  he  expressed  hearty 


TWO  IMPORTANT  CONVERSATIONS  307 

sympathy  with  the  Secretaries  iu  their  problems  and  plans. 
After  the  last  session,  as  he  and  I  walked  home  to  the  hotel, 
along  the  shore  of  the  bay,  taking  my  arm  in  frank  brotherly 
fashion,  he  confessed  to  seeing  and  understanding  the  reason- 
ableness of  the  urgency  for  extension,  to  which  I  was  yielding 
as  General  Secretary.  On  the  basis  of  this  new,  intelligent 
sympathy',  and  as  an  advisory  member  of  the  International 
Committee,  he  expressed  agreement  with  this  policy  of  expan- 
sion. And  at  the  next  International  Convention,  held  in 
Mobile  the  following  year — which  was  his  last  Convention — 
he  manifested  this  conviction  by  joining  in  the  plea  for  the 
new  Bible-Study  Department  of  the  Committee's  work,  and 
was  one  of  the  ten  subscribers  of  $250  each,  to  create  the  fund 
which  was  needed  to  support  the  new  Secretary,  whose  em- 
ployment was  authorized  by  the  Convention. 

It  was  at  this  same  New  London  conference  that  McBurney 
said  to  me :  "Do  you  know  you  are  promoting  the  International 
Work  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  too  dependent  on  yourself? 
If  anything  should  happen  to  you,  it  could  not  be  supported 
and  continued  as  it  is  now  manned  and  organized."  Probably 
at  that  time  there  was  too  much  truth  in  what  he  said,  and 
I  could  only  resort  to  a  personal  question  or  appeal:  "Is  the 
International  Work  any  more  dependent  on  me  for  its  continu- 
ance and  efficiency,  than  the  New  York  Association  is  on  its 
General  Secretary?"  It  then  seemed  to  me  that  such  depend- 
ence was  equally  true  of  himself  in  relation  to  the  important 
office  he  had  been  holding  for  over  thirty  years. 

From  an  experience  of  twenty-six  years,  I  could  not  then 
see  how  or  when,  as  General  Secretary,  I  could  place  on  asso- 
ciates as  much  of  the  burden  of  first  responsibility  as  they 
ought  to  bear.  The  attempts  of  a  year  previous,  to  enlist  Mott, 
had  apparently  failed,  and  I  could  not  then  forecast  how  much 
of  this  and  other  burdens  he  would  in  reality  undertake  with- 
out being  willing  to  receive  the  name  of  the  office.  So  this 
interview  with  McBurney  only  strengthened  the  conviction 
which  during  the  previous  summer  had  led  to  my  interview 
with  Mott. 

The  responsibilities  carried  by  Brainerd  as  Chairman  were 
being  wisely  distributed  among  Committeemen  as  the  work 
was  outgrowing  its  early  dimensions.     Similar  distribution 


308  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

to  junior  associates  on  the  staff  was  equally  called  for.  These 
associates  were  steadily  increasing  in  number  as  the  work 
developed  in  the  variety  and  number  of  its  departments.  To 
depute  first  responsibility  wherever  capacity  to  bear  it  de- 
veloped was  of  first  importance.  For  the  present,  however, 
the  departure  of  Mott  and  Wishard  only  increased  my  re- 
sponsibilities in  relation  to  both  the  Student  and  Foreign 
sections  of  the  Committee's  work. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  EVENTFUL  YEAR  OF  1898 

The  year  1898  was  signalized  by  an  unusual  number  of  note- 
worthy events. 

Army  and  Navy  Work 

The  most  prominent  one  was  the  outbreak  in  April  of  the 
war  with  Spain.  This  occasioned  the  immediate  organization 
by  the  Committee,  without  any  instruction  from  the  Conven- 
tion, of  a  new,-  and  as  it  proved,  a  permanent  department  of 
its  work.  At  once  and  until  the  close  of  the  year  that  de- 
partment required  a  larger  expenditure  of  money  than  any 
other,  or  than  all  the  others  combined. 

The  new  work  was  for  the  soldiers  and  sailors  of  the  United 
States  and  was  organized  upon  the  lines  of  an  excellent  Asso- 
ciation summer  tent  work,  already  developed  by  State  and 
Provincial  Committees  among  soldiers  of  the  militia  or 
National  Guard,  in  both  Canada  and  the  United  States,  It 
had  been  an  endeavor  of  Association  workers  to  give  to  sol- 
diers in  these  summer  camps  as  much  as  possible  of  the 
Association  fourfold  work  in  the  lines  of  reading,  letter 
writing,  and  social,  literary,  musical,  and  religious  exercises 
and  meetings.  The  needed  Association  Secretary  was  pro- 
vided to  make  more  accessible  and  attractive  all  these  facilities, 
and  to  help  create  an  effective  opposition  to  the  saloon  and 
other  demoralizing  agencies  which  infest  and  infect  a  camp 
of  soldiers.  For  many  years  officers  and  men  of  the  militia 
had  welcomed  these  Association  tents  and  Secretaries,  and 
gladly  made  their  equipment  an  essential  part  of  the  summer 
camp's  outfit. 

As  soon  therefore  as  President  McKinley,  upon  the  declara- 
tion of  war,  summoned  to  camp  life  two  hundred  thousand 
recruits,  the  International  Committee,  through  one  of  its  Sec- 
retaries, William  B.  Millar,  sought  and  received  authorization 
from  the  President  and  the  Secretaries  of  War  and  of  the 

30S 


310  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Navy,  to  establish  this  form  of  Association  work  in  camps 
among  United  States  soldiers,  and  at  naval  posts  among 
sailors.  For  William  Millar  this  proved  to  be  a  call  to  arduous 
and  ardent  endeavor,  for  over  a  decade,  in  planting  and  develop- 
ing a  permanent  Association  work  among  young  men  under 
arms.  He  has  written  the  story  of  this  achievement  of  strong 
sagacious  leadership.  He  laid  a  sound  enduring  foundation 
for  a  permanent  work.  After  he  had  withdrawn  from  it  to  lead 
another  Christian  undertaking,  this  Army  and  Navy  work  was 
destined  to  open  to  his  able  successor,  John  S.  Tichenor,  and 
other  Association  leaders  an  unparalleled  opportunity  to  serve 
millions  of  young  men  in  many  nations — such  an  opportunity 
as  a  world  war  is  now  presenting  and  a  world  brotherhood  is 
eagerly  seeking  to  improve. 

There  was  an  immediate  call  for  over  200  Army  and  Navy 
Secretaries,  and  quick  response  was  made  by  State  Com- 
mittees, local  Associations,  and  students  at  the  Training 
Schools.  Following  the  Association  precedent  of  the  Civil 
War,  an  Army  and  Navy  Christian  Commission  of  the  In- 
ternational Committee  was  appointed,  composed  of  members 
of  the  Committee  and  other  prominent  Christian  citizens.  Of 
this  Commission  the  head  of  the  Committee's  Army  and  Navy 
Department,  Colonel  John  J.  McCook,  was  made  Chairman.  D. 
L.  Moody  became  Chairman  of  the  Evangelistic  Committee. 
It  was  a  work  of  such  dimensions  that  its  cost  (|80,000)  for 
the  remaining  fraction  of  the  year  was  equal  to  that  of  all 
the  other  home  work  of  the  Committee  for  1898.  Some  of  the 
donors  who  were  giving  most  to  the  work  increased  their  gifts 
for  this  year  three,  four,  and  a  few  even  five-fold.  Miss  Helen 
Miller  Gould  (now  Mrs.  Finley  J.  Shepard)  in  this  emergency 
entered  the  list  of  friends  and  substantial  supporters  of  the 
Committee's  work  and  has  continued  in  it  ever  since. 

Permanent  Army  and  Navij  Department 

The  work  of  a  few  months  among  soldiers  and  sailors  re- 
sulted in  the  creation  of  a  permanent  Army  and  Navy  Depart- 
ment, with  William  B.  Millar  as  its  Secretary.  This  action 
of  the  Committee  was  duly  submitted  to  the  International 
Convention  of  1899  at  Grand  Rapids  in  a  session  presided  over 
by  a  new  member  of  the  International  Committee,  Rear  Ad- 


THE  EVENTFUL  YEAR  OF  1898  311 

miral  John  X.  Philip  of  the  United  States  Navy,  and  met  with 
enthusiastic  approval. 

The  expenditure  annually  called  for  by  this  new  work  of  the 
Committee — while  reduced  below  the  sum  needed  in  war  time 
(1898) — was  at  first  double  that  of  any  of  the  older  depart- 
ments. Its  Secretaries  and  equipment  became  thoroughly 
domesticated  in  both  arms  of  the  national  service  during  the 
administrations  of  Presidents  Roosevelt  and  Taft  (1900-1912). 
During  the  Boer  war  (1899-'02)  the  Canadian  contingent  car- 
ried Army  Association  Secretaries  with  equipment  to  South 
Africa  and  to  the  British  Army.  During  the  Russo-Japanese 
war  (1001-1905)  American  Secretaries  in  Japan,  under  the 
strong  leadership  of  Charles  V.  Hibbard,  introduced  the  work 
among  Japanese  soldiers  and  oflScers  in  Manchuria.  After  the 
Boxer  war  and  the  siege  of  Pekin  in  1900,  the  work  was  estab- 
lished for  the  American  Legation  Guard  in  that  city. 

While  these  international  extensions  were  taking  place  and 
the  work  made  steady  progress  in  the  favor  of  the  men  and 
officers  of  the  United  States  Army  and  Navy,  budgets  for  other 
departments  of  the  Committee's  work — Student,  Railroad,  In- 
dustrial— after  1902  began  rapidly  to  exceed  in  size  the  Army 
and  Navy  budget ;  but  upon  the  outbreak  of  the  present  world 
war  in  1914,  and  later  when  the  troublesome  situation  arose 
on  the  Mexican  border  in  1916,  for  a  second  and  much  longer 
period  (1911-1917)  expenditure  by  the  Committee  on  behalf 
of  young  men  under  arms  in  Europe  and  on  our  own  and 
other  continents  has  gradually  exceeded  not  only  the  entire 
home  work  budget  of  the  period,  but  that  of  all  other  work  of 
the  Committee  both  at  home  and  abroad,  including  the  expenses 
of  the  new  Boys',  Industrial,  and  Count}'  or  Rural  Work. 
When  in  1917  the  United  States  declared  war  against  Germany 
and  joined  Britain,  France,  Russia,  and  their  allies,  the  Amer- 
ican Association  Movement — as  in  1861  and  1898 — mobilized 
a  third  Christian  Commission  through  its  International  Com- 
mittee, giving  to  it  this  time  the  name  of  the  "National  War 
Work  Council."  Of  its  membership,  as  heretofore,  a  large  per- 
centage are  members  of  the  International  Committee.  Its 
Chairman  is  the  Committee's  Vice-Chairman,  William  Sloane, 
of  New  York,  its  General  Secretary  and  his  staff  are  the  Com- 
mittee's General  Secretary,  Dr.  John  R.  Mott  with  some  of 


312  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

his  associates  who  are  also  members  of  the  Committee's  Secre- 
tarial Cabinet.  To  raise  the  millions  of  dollars  for  1917  needed 
to  serve  not  only  our  own  soldiers  but  millions  of  prisoners 
of  war  from  all  the  nations,  and  other  millions  in  the  armies 
of  our  allies,  the  entire  Association  movement,  local,  State, 
and  International  is  mobilized.  Every  one  of  the  forty-eight 
states  offers  the  allotment  of  its  share  of  the  fund.  Every  de- 
partment lends  its  cooperation.  The  rural  Association  workers 
and  the  boys  become  soldiers  of  the  soil ;  the  railroad  workers 
are  called  soldiers  of  the  rail ;  the  industrial  workers,  soldiers 
of  munitions  and  other  industries;  while  from  all  these  de- 
partments and  from  the  city  and  student  members,  young  men 
flock  to  the  colors. 

In  the  nineteenth  century  the  most  influential  classes  into 
which  the  City  Association  Movement  extended  its  work  and 
membership  were  the  young  men  of  the  schools  and  universities 
and  of  the  railroads  and  other  industries,  and  only  a  beginning 
was  accomplished  among  soldiers.  But  in  the  first  two  decades 
of  the  twentieth  century,  while  accelerated  progress  among 
all  other  classes  has  been  achieved,  it  is  preeminently  among 
young  men  under  arms  that  unprecedented  extension  has  been 
accomplished.  The  magnitude  of  the  service  rendered  has 
eclipsed  all  previous  extension  of  the  beneficent  influence  of 
Association  work  among  young  men  throughout  the  world  and 
has  given  the  work  and  the  brotherhood  a  usefulness  and 
repute  beyond  the  dreams  of  the  fathers. 

Two  World  Conferences  in  Europe 
1898 

Meeting  of  World's  Conference  at  Basle 

In  this  same  year  it  was  necessary  to  attend  meetings  of  the 
World's  Conference  at  Basle,  Switzerland,  and  of  the  World's 
Student  Christian  Federation  at  Eisenach,  Germany.  For  the 
first  time  these  two  vitally  related  World  Conferences  met 
in  the  near  neighborhood  of  one  another.  A  group  of  delegates 
from  other  continents,  some  crossing  both  the  Pacific  and  the 
Atlantic,  brought  credentials  entitling  them  to  attend  the  two 
meetings. 

The  World's  Conference  assembled  at  Basle  on  the  day  of  the 


THE  EVENTFUL  YEAR  OF  1898  313 

naval  battle  at  Santiago,  while  American  and  Spanish  sailors 
and  soldiers  were  contending  for  the  mastery  in  Cuba  and  the 
Philippines.  On  the  platform  of  the  Conference  at  the  open- 
ing session,  during  the  welcome  extended  to  the  delegates  from 
different  countries,  the  Spanish  delegate  Louis  de  Vargas  and 
I  met,  each  reporting  for  the  Associations  he  represented.  We 
greeted  one  another,  shaking  hands  with  a  special  cordiality, 
and  in  this  public  manner  as  fellow  Christian  workers  gave 
conspicuous  testimony  to  the  fact  that  such  disciples  of  Christ, 
in  both  countries,  were  at  peace  and  in  brotherly  cooperation 
with  one  another.  There  was  so  much  that  was  spectacular  in 
our  meeting  and  greeting,  that  at  the  time  the  circumstance 
was  very  widely  reported,  and  some  weeks  afterward  a  paper 
from  Australia  was  received  at  our  office  containing  a  tele- 
graphic description  of  the  occurrence.  In  that  and  many  other 
journals  this  was  the  only  mention  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
Conference!  The  incident  was  impressive,  as  an  indication  of 
the  presence  and  action  in  our  brotherhood  of  "the  international 
mind"  and  heart.  Under  another  name  we  were  more  familiar 
with  it  as  the  Christ  mind  and  heart. 

A  second  General  Secretary  of  the  World's  Committee,  Chris- 
tian Phildius,  came  to  Basle,  for  during  the  four  years  since 
the  Jubilee  meeting  at  London,  and  in  response  to  action  there 
taken,  he  had  been  added  to  the  staff  of  the  Committee.  For 
some  time  this  appointment  had  been  urged  by  British  and 
American  supporters  of  the  Committee's  work,  in  the  expecta- 
tion that  this  second  Secretary  would  be  set  apart  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  such  excellent  metropolitan  work  as  he  had  ad- 
ministered in  Berlin.  The  able  President  of  the  Basle  Asso- 
ciation, Sarasin  Warnery,  a  leading  capitalist  and  Christian 
worker  of  Switzerland,  presided  admirably  at  the  Conference, 
and  began  to  take  that  interest  in  the  work  and  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  Conference  which  led  a  few  years  afterward  to 
his  becoming  its  Chairman. 

The  Vice-Chairman  of  the  International  Committee,  Alfred 
E.  Marling,  for  the  first  time  attended  the  Conference  as  one 
of  the  American  delegates.  This  was  the  beginning  of  an 
interest  and  attendance  which  led  to  his  becoming  an  active 
American  member  of  the  World's  Committee.  James  Stokes 
reported  his  tour  of  travel  around  the  world,  just  completed, 


314  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

and  L.  Wilbur  Messer,  of  Chicago,  presented  a  paper  carefully 
reviewing  the  work  of  the  North  American  Associations. 

Mott  spoke  of  the  Student  and  C.  J.  Hicks  of  the  Railroad 
Work,  and  both  of  them  served  on  the  Delegates'  Committee. 
They  were  successors  of  McBurney,  who  had  been  the  Ameri- 
can member — and  usually  the  Chairman — at  every  Conference 
since  the  World's  Committee  made  its  first  report  in  1881.  At 
the  suggestion  of  Sir  George  Williams,  a  cablegram  of  cordial 
brotherly  greeting  was  sent  from  the  Conference  to  McBurney, 
who  was  then  in  a  hospital  in  New  York.  As  Chairman  of  the 
Delegates'  Committee,  Mott  brought  an  able  report  outlining 
the  work  of  the  World's  Committee  and  recommending  Chris- 
tiania  as  the  place  of  meeting  for  the  Conference  of  1902. 

TJie  World's  Student  Federation  Meeting 

From  Basle,  with  Mott,  Phildius,  and  Stokes,  I  went  to 
Eisenach,  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  Student  Federation  and 
its  Committee.  Since  the  meeting  at  Williamstown  only  a 
year  had  passed,  and  according  to  the  rules  the  next  meeting 
was  due  in  1899,  but  the  holding  of  the  World's  Conference 
at  Basle  made  it  practicable  for  Mott  and  others  to  attend  a 
Federation  meeting  in  Germany.  This  was  earnestly  desired 
by  the  students  of  that  country  and  proved  to  be  an  oppor- 
tunity well  worth  improving.  Each  of  these  two  World  Con- 
ferences also  gained  additional  delegates  by  meeting  during 
the  same  season  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  another.  A 
good  precedent  was  thus  established,  which  was  followed  by 
both  Conferences  in  1902,  1905,  and  1909.  At  all  these  Mott 
was  reelected  a  member  of  the  Delegates'  Committee  of  the 
World's  Conference,  while  he  also  continued  leader  of  the 
Federation.  At  Eisenach  (1898)  another  Student  Movement 
was  added  to  the  ten  already  affiliated  in  the  Federation, 
namely,  the  Student  Movement  of  the  Netherlands,  France,  and 
Switzerland. 

The  General  Secretary's  Private  Office  and  Home 

Another  significant  event  of  this  year  was  a  second  change 
in  the  location  of  the  Committee's  office.  For  some  ^^ears  its 
second  office — at  40  East  23rd  Street — had  been  painfully  over- 
crowded, owing  to  the  increase  of  the  staff  and  the  expansion 


I 


THE  EVENTFUL  YEAR  OF  1898  315 

of  the  work.  For  tweutj'  years — 1880-1898 — an  office  in  my 
home  had  promoted  for  me  a  wise  separation  from  the  distrac- 
tion of  the  Committee's  public  office.  Since  1884  this  private 
office  had  been  located  in  our  home  at  189  East  18th  Street, 
and  for  fourteen  years  in  this  home  we  had  kept  ojjen  house 
both  for  two  large  families  of  brothers  and  sisters  and  for 
our  friends  and  associates  in  the  work.  As  Mrs.  Morse  and 
I  each  belonged  to  a  family  of  ten  children,  we  were  blessed 
with  thirty-six  nieces  and  nephews,  nearly  half  of  whom  were 
born  after  we  were  married,  and  a  number  of  whom  not  long 
after  that  event  followed  our  example  in  seeking  and  finding 
homes  of  their  own.  In  their  families  during  our  married  life 
the  children  numbered  twenty-eight. 

The  location  was  central  for  those  in  the  city  and  also  for 
those  living  in  the  suburbs.  Our  brothers  and  sisters  found 
it  a  haven  when  family  complications  made  it  desirable  for 
us  to  receive  some  of  their  children  for  a  time,  and  the  chil- 
dren themselves  eagerly  welcomed  such  visits.  They  knew  they 
would  find  drawers  filled  by  their  Aunt  with  attractive  and 
familiar  toys,  some  of  which  in  due  time  became  of  historic 
interest  in  the  family.  When  older  children  needed  treat- 
ment from  specialists,  they  too  seemed  to  find  our  home  a 
happy  abiding  place.  Many  memorable  anniversary  gatherings 
were  held  here,  and  occasionally  Christmas  trees  and  plum 
puddings  were  among  the  attractions. 

Our  colored  cook,  Phoebe  Bowers,  who  before  she  came  to 
us  lived  with  Mrs.  Morse's  mother,  and  who  remained  with 
us  for  over  thirty  years,  was  well  known  by  our  guests  and 
a  friend  of  all  the  children. 

Colored  waiter  boys  served  in  a  succession  which  was  very 
educative  to  each  in  turn,  owing  to  the  rare  ability  in  this  line 
possessed  by  the  home-making  head  of  the  household.  They 
were  important  members  of  the  establishment  and  were  secured 
while  very  young,  some  of  them  so  small  that  they  could  only 
reach  dishes  near  the  edge  of  the  table.  They  were  trained 
until  capable  of  taking  positions  of  rank  as  butlers,  or  other 
more  responsible  household  officers,  and  were  always  objects 
of  special  interest  to  our  friends!  One  of  these  boys,  Oscar 
by  name,  during  one  of  our  absences  from  home  served  for  a 
while  as  nurse  to  L.  D,  Wishard,  during  a  convalescence  of 


316  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

some  duration  and  the  Secretary  enjoyed  recounting  some  of 
the  long  conversations  he  had  with  the  boy,  as  intervals  of 
leisure  were  improved  by  both  patient  and  nurse.  In  one  of 
these,  the  boy — inspired  by  a  desire  to  meet  his  patient  on  his 
own  ground — expressed  it  as  his  ambition,  "to  go  when  he 
was  big,  as  a  missionary  to  the  Indians."  Another  charac- 
ter of  family  interest  was  our  Irish  landlord,  an  old-time,  old- 
world  gentleman,  who  always  wore  a  large  silk  hat  and  be- 
came our  warm  friend. 

My  fellow  Secretaries  were  also  welcomed  as  members  of 
the  home  and  family,  Robert  McBurney  being  always  a  favorite 
guest.  The  two  guest  rooms  were  kept  ready  for  use  at  a 
moment's  warning  and  were  seldom  empty.  Friends  from  all 
parts  of  the  world  were  welcomed  to  them.  More  than  once 
the  housekeeper  returned  after  a  short  absence  to  find  both 
rooms  occupied.  At  meal-time  we  were  seldom  alone,  and  the 
unexpected  appearance  of  guests  was  a  part  of  the  day's  enjoy- 
ment. An  inflexible  household  rule  made  this  flexibility  in 
numbers  quite  practicable,  for  an  extra  plate  was  always  pro- 
vided. Each  of  us  felt  free  to  invite  any  one  to  a  meal,  pro- 
vided the  waiter  boy  was  informed,  who  passed  the  word  on 
to  Phoebe.  After  this  i)recaution  the  extra  jjlate  was  for  any- 
one else  who  might  "drop"  in  after  the  meal  had  begun.  Our 
friends  became  accustomed  to  take  us  as  they  found  us,  and 
if,  as  sometimes  happened,  the  last  slice  of  bread  in  the  house 
appeared  on  the  table,  no  one  was  anxious  or  troubled!  This 
mention  of  bread  reminds  the  housekeeper,  who  is  looking 
over  my  shoulder  as  I  write  these  lines,  that  Phoebe's  bread 
was  very  popular,  and  we  were  told  by  friends  that  they  "al- 
ways remembered  Tuesday,  Thursday,  and  Saturday  as  fresh 
bread  days"  and  particularly  liked  to  drop  in  for  luncheon 
on  "those  particular  days!" 

Another  rule  which  was  quite  strictly  enforced  prohibited 
the  talking  of  "shop"  or  business  at  the  table — the  conversation 
must  be  of  a  general  character.  This  made  meal-time  more 
of  a  genuine  rest  and  recreation  to  me  than  it  could  have  been 
if  my  mind  had  been  held  at  tension  uj)on  the  arduous  work 
of  the  day.  The  constant  coming  and  going  of  my  associates 
kept  Mrs.  Morse  in  close  and  intelligent  touch  with  the  work, 
and  as  she  frequently  went  with  me  to  conferences  and  con- 


THE  EVENTFUL  YEAR  OF  1898  317 

veutions,  at  home  aud  abroad,  her  contact  with  it  was  intimate 
and  in  many  cases  gave  her  the  jJleasure  of  knowing  the  wives 
and  families  of  friends  aud  associates. 

Her  sympathy  aud  activity  in  Christian  work  were  also  ex- 
tended to  the  Woman's  Foreign  Board  of  our  Church  (Presby- 
terian), of  which  she  was  an  industrious  leading  member  for 
over  twenty-five  years. 

Notable  Guests 

Among  our  guests  from  abroad  we  enjoyed  giving  welcome 
to  Professor  Thomas  H.  Gladstone  of  London  and  W.  Hind 
Smith  of  the  statf  of  the  English  National  Council,  on  his  route 
home  from  India  and  Australia ;  Kynaston  Studd,  General 
Secretaries  Kennedy  and  Putterill  and  National  Secretary 
W.  H.  Mills  of  London;  Charles  Fermaud,  Christian  Phildius, 
and  Em.  Sautter  of  the  World's  Committee;  Karl  Fries  of 
Stockholm,  Ibuka  and  Niwa  of  Japan,  and  Tsao — the  Mc- 
Burney  of  Shanghai  and  China. 

Soon  after  he  began  his  work  in  Japan,  Secretary  John  T. 
Swift  wrote  me  that  Chief  Justice  Myoshi — a  modest  Chris- 
tian gentleman — would  be  passing  through  New  York  with 
his  wife,  en  route  to  Berlin  to  reside  there  for  a  time  for  pur- 
poses of  professional  study.  The  Chief  Justice  accepted  an 
invitation  to  dine  at  our  home  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Monroe, 
and  we  enjoyed  a  pleasant  evening  together.  Mrs.  Mjoshi 
was  specially  interested  in  the  equipment  of  this  first  Ameri- 
can home  which  she  had  seen,  the  hot  air  coming  from  registers 
particularly  challenging  her  attention.  After  a  residence  of 
more  than  a  year  abroad  they  arrived  in  our  city  homeward 
bound.  During  our  call  upon  them  at  the  hotel,  where  they 
tarried,  we  were  introduced  to  two  children,  born  to  them  in 
Europe,  to  the  first  of  whom  they  had  given  a  name  signifying 
that  it  was  a  "child  of  three  continents." 

Another  interesting  fellowship  was  connected  with  our  house 
in  ISth  Street.  The  same  spring  (1884)  that  we  began  resid- 
ing there.  Chairman  Brainerd  rented  a  house  on  the  same 
block,  which  he  occupied  for  eight  years,  until  his  resignation. 
The  part  of  the  day  which  he  set  aside  for  seeing  my  associates 
and  myself  was  during  the  evening,  and  immediately  after 
dinner,  almost  every  evening,  his  house  was  my  resort  alone 


318  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

or  with  fellow  Secretaries.  These  interviews,  according  to 
circumstances,  lasted  from  a  few  minutes  to  four  or  five  hours. 
He  was  often  tired  and  would  throw  himself  on  the  sofa  and 
take  a  good  nap,  but  in  his  library  I  could  always  improve  the 
interval.  Then  he  would  wake  up  refreshed  and  ready  to  talk, 
till  after  midnight  if  need  be,  on  his  work  of  vigilant  cor- 
respondence and  supervision. 

After  his  retirement,  my  conferences  with  his  successors 
in  the  chairmanship  more  often  took  place  in  the  daytime,  and 
at  the  luncheon  hour. 

In  1898  the  growth  of  the  work  and  staff  made  imperative 
a  removal  to  larger  oflSces  at  3  West  29th  Street,  where  a 
quiet  and  somewhat  retired  room  was  provided  for  the  General 
Secretary.  For  our  home,  too,  a  change  to  another  neighbor- 
hood was  desirable  and  we  moved  far  up  town,  and  far  from 
the  Committee's  new  offices.  This  removal  closed  a  very  de- 
lightful period  of  our  home  life.  There  were  guest  rooms  in 
the  new  home  and  they  were  not  unoccupied,  but  we  were  no 
longer  near  the  ofifice  and  in  a  location  so  central  as  to  be 
a  "drop  in''  place  of  resort  for  a  midday  meal.  Eelief  from 
some  of  the  severe  strain  of  work  at  home  and  in  the  evening 
was  experienced.  This  was  doubtless  desirable,  but  also  some 
of  the  pleasant  and  wide  hospitality  which  for  years  had  been 
part  of  a  strenuous  and  happy  life  was  denied  us. 

Office  and  home  were  also  in  a  striking  numerical  relation 
to  one  another.  The  office  was  at  3  West  29th  Street,  the  home 
at  13  West  129th  Street,  exactly  one  hundred  blocks  or  five 
miles  from  one  another. 

The  change  of  the  office  to  new  rooms  affording  one-third 
more  space  was  most  timely,  for  it  was  accomplished  just  before 
the  outbreak  of  the  Spanish  War  and  accommodation  for  the 
Army  Work  would  have  been  impossible  without  this  enlarge- 
ment of  the  office. 

"The  most  interesting  feature  of  life  in  the  new  offices,"  to 
quote  from  my  report  of  this  year,  "is  the  fifteen-minute  noon 
service,  which  is  occupied  with  statements  regarding  progress 
on  the  field  and  with  prayer  for  a  blessing  on  work  and 
workers.  The  attendance  is  composed  of  friends  from  the  New 
York  state  and  city  offices,  which  are  located  in  the  same  build- 
ing and  of  all  International  Committee  workers  and  visitors 


THE  EVENTFUL  YEAR  OP  1898  319 

who  are  in  the  oflSces  at  the  hour.  Sometimes  as  many  as  forty 
persons  are  present.  Personal  reports  and  extracts  from  let- 
ters are  often  of  thrilling  interest.  The  absentees  at  home 
and  abroad  report  that  they  derive  new  courage  from  the  con- 
sciousness that  they  are  steadily  remembered  in  prayer  by  their 
associates  in  the  home  office.  The  accommodation  for  this  serv- 
ice in  the  old  quarters  prevented  such  an  attendance  as  now 
promotes  both  interest  and  helpfulness." 

On  the  Bicycle — a  Century  Run 

In  1895  in  a  bicycle  school  Mrs.  Morse  and  I  learned  to 
ride  the  wheel.  For  some  years  we  enjoyed  many  rides  to- 
gether in  the  suburbs  and  during  our  August  vacation  at 
Shelter  Island.  For  some  twelve  years,  between  the  ages  of 
fifty-four  and  sixty-six,  this  proved  to  be  a  form  of  exercise 
helpfully  supplementing  that  of  the  Koberts  dumbbell  drill 
which  for  thirty  years  has  been  taken,  without  the  dumb- 
bells, each  morning  before  my  bath.  When  a  hundred  blocks 
separated  our  home  from  the  office,  I  began  the  practice  of 
riding  this  distance  on  my  wheel  every  morning  and  evening 
when  the  weather  allowed.  Half  the  journey  could  be  ac- 
complished in  Central  Park;  this  greatly  added  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  it. 

During  August  of  the  following  year  (1899)  on  Shelter 
Island  and  in  its  neighborhood  Mrs.  Morse  and  I  enjoyed  many 
rides  together,  one  of  nearly  fifty  miles.  Perhaps  I  had  taken 
more  exercise  on  the  wheel  that  month  than  in  any  other  be- 
fore or  since.  Early  in  September  the  Committee  and  its 
Secretaries  were  to  meet  on  Long  Island,  at  Long  Beach,  about 
100  miles  from  Shelter  Island,  with  good  bicycle  paths  between. 
Early  on  the  day  before  the  meeting  (6  a.  m.)  I  set  out  on 
my  wheel,  from  Greenport,  with  the  intention  of  completing 
half  the  journey — more  or  less — by  rail,  but  road  and  rider 
and  wheel  proved  to  be  in  such  good  condition  that  before  dis- 
mounting at  the  Long  Beach  Hotel  at  5  p.  m.,  I  had  completed 
"a  century  run." 

The  following  year  I  met  with  my  only  serious  accident  on 
the  wheel.  As  I  was  returning  home  from  the  office  along  Fifth 
Avenue  near  120th  Street,  a  boy  heedlessly  scorching  with- 
out looking  ahead  of  him,  hit  my  wheel  violently.    In  the  fall 


320  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

my  knee  was  so  severely  wrenched  as  to  put  me  on  crutches 
for  the  next  five  months. 

A  Variety  of  Official  and  Personal  Activities 

The  following  extracts  taken  from  the  monthly  family  letters 
of  June,  July,  and  November,  1897,  give  an  impression  of  the 
activities  of  this  period : 

"June  30th,  1897— On  the  train  from  New  Haven  to  North- 
field. 

Yale  Commencement  day  exercises  and  dinner  were  over 
this  afternoon  and  I  am  returning  at  once  to  Northfield,  where 
our  Student  Summer  Conference  has  been  in  session  since  the 
2.5th,  and  where  I  left  Mrs.  Morse  to  await  my  return.  Nearly 
four  hundred  are  in  attendance  this  summer,  among  them  stu- 
dents from  twenty-five  nations,  including  delegates  from  col- 
leges on  every  continent.  The  presence  of  the  latter  is  due 
in  part  to  the  recent  world  tour  of  twenty  months  ending  last 
March,  by  our  College  Secretary,  John  Mott.  In  the  course  of 
this  tour,  chiefly  through  his  efforts,  the  World  Student  Chris- 
tian Federation  was  organized.  He  is  its  General  Secretary. 
In  it  are  already  represented  some  ten  student  brotherhoods, 
more  or  less  resembling  our  own  American  and  Canadian  inter- 
collegiate movement.  Our  meeting  at  Northfield  this  year  is 
made  significant  by  the  fact  that  among  the  foreign  visitors 
are  members  of  the  Federation  General  Committee,  which  is 
composed  of  two  rejjresentatives  of  each  of  the  ten  Student 
Movements  constituting  the  Federation.  Secretary  Mott  and 
I  represent  our  movement.  After  our  sessions  in  Northfield 
close  next  Sunday  and  the  multitude  disappear,  we  of  this 
Committee  will  spend  some  days  next  week  at  Williamstown 
in  important  conference. 

Quite  undesirably  for  me  Yale  Commencement,  for  the  first 
time,  occurred  this  year  in  the  midst  of  our  Northfield  meet- 
ing. I  could  not  avoid  being  at  both.  So  I  left  Northfield  on 
Monday  afternoon  to  attend  in  New  Haven  on  Tuesday,  first, 
as  chairman,  the  meeting  of  the  Graduate  Committee  of  the 
Yale  Association,  where  I  met  a  classmate  of  Sam  Colgate's 
(a  nephew),  Thomas  Archbald,  who  is  to  be  Yale  Secretary 
the  coming  year,  and  the  Student  President  of  this  year — 
Henry  B.  Wright,  son  of  tlie  Dean  and  a  member  of  the  incom- 
ing senior  class.  My  second  errand  on  Tuesday  was  to  attend 
the  very  interesting  anniversary  dinner  meeting  of  my  class 
— this  being  the  thirty-fifth  year  since  our  graduation.  Brother 
Will  was  there,  as  class  secretary,  to  attend  his  thirtieth, 
Richard  Colgate  (a  nephew),  his  twentieth,  and  Sam  Colgate 
(another  nephew),   his  sixth   anniversary  meeting.     We  ob- 


THE  EVENTFUL  YEAR  OP  1898  321 

tained  glimpses  of  one  another,  but  classmates  had  the  right 
of  way.  The  Yale  catalogue  assigns  to  our  class  exactly  100 
graduates.  Seventy  are  now  living  and  of  them  thirty-four 
were  present.  Every  one  was  heard  from.  It  was  a  combina- 
tion story  of  widely  varied  and  very  interesting  careers.  Chief 
Justice  Albert  F.  Judd,  of  Honolulu,  presided.  He  had  come 
also  to  witness  the  graduation  of  the  two  eldest  of  his  seven 
sons.  Of  the  younger  ones  more  are  sure  to  follow,  he  says. 
(Two  followed  in  1901  and  1905.)  Now  the  Commencement 
exercises  of  this  morning  and  afternoon  being  concluded,  I 
am  returning  for  the  closing  sessions  at  Northfield  and  the 
yet  more  significant  meeting  at  Williamstown. 

But  I  have  begun  the  story  of  the  month  toward  the  end 
of  it!  The  first  Sunday  (Gth)  we  spent  on  Shelter  Island  mak- 
ing ready  our  little  cottage  there  for  occujiation  later  in  the 
season.  The  following  Sunday  with  the  preceding  Saturday 
I  was  at  the  Clifton  House,  Niagara  Falls,  where  at  the  invita- 
tion of  one  of  our  Ohio  Secretaries  (Glen  Shurtleff,  of  Cleve- 
land) a  dozen  and  more  Association  Secretaries  from  Chicago, 
Philadelphia,  Boston.  New  York,  St.  Louis,  and  other  cities 
met  to  confer  about  the  religious  and  Bible  work  of  the  Asso- 
ciations.   It  proved  a  very  useful  and  timely  conference.^ 

The  following  week  we  entertained  in  our  home  an  interest- 
ing guest  in  the  person  of  the  President  of  one  of  our  Chris- 
tian colleges  in  Tokyo,  Japan — Rev.  K.  Ibuka,  who  is  a  leader 
in  our  college  student  work  in  Japan  and  Chairman  of  the 
Student  Association  movement  of  that  Empire.  His  chief 
errand  here  is  to  attend  the  two  student  meetings  at  North- 
field  and  Williamstown, 

This  brings  this  scrappy  monthly  chronicle  to  the  time  in 
June  of  our  departure  for  Northfield  already  mentioned.  I 
ought  however  to  report  my  visit  to  Springfield  and  to  our 
League  Secretary,  (Oliver  C.  Morse),  who  is  also  Secretary  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Training  School,  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  which,  on  the  Commencement  day,  I  was  expected. 
Also  one  pleasant  Sunday  (20th »  we  spent  in  Brooklyn  in  the 
old  Van  Cott  homestead,  where  and  when  I  had  the  privilege 
of  baptizing  the  youngest  little  grandchild,  who  now  bears  the 
honored  name  of  his  grandfather,  Joshua  Marsden  Van  Cott." 

"Locustcroft,  Shelter  Island  Heights,  N.  Y. 

July  31st,  1897. 

My  last  letter  was  mailed  in  Northfield  at  our  Students' 

Conference,  which  closed  July  sixth.     Then  we  journeyed  to 

Williamstown  with  our  foreign  delegates  from  Europe,  Asia, 

Africa,  and  Australasia.     We  numbered  thirty,  including  a 

'  p.  272. 


322  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

few  of  our  American  Secretaries.  At  Northtield  these  foreign 
students  had  met  hundreds  of  our  college  boys  and  had  be- 
come acquainted  with  our  intercollegiate  Christian  brother- 
hood with  its  twenty  years  of  experience,  during  which  it  has 
worked  out  valuable  methods,  a  useful  literature,  and  sys- 
tematic supervision  under  trained  leaders.  The  oldest  similar 
student  brotherhood  rejjreseuted  by  the  foreigners  is  the  Brit- 
ish infant,  three  years  old!  So  our  foreign  friends  from  the 
old  world  found  much  to  interest  them  in  this  parent  Student 
Movement  planted  in  the  new  world.  On  the  other  hand  our 
boys  were  eager  to  hear  from  every  land  of  the  beginning  of 
a  movement  similar  to  their  own. 

We  all  met  around  one  large  table  in  a  spacious  room,  as 
members  of  the  General  Committee  of  the  World's  Student 
Christian  Federation  (organized  two  years  ago)  with  a  few 
invited  guests  from  our  own  country  and  from  France,  Hol- 
land, and  Switzerland,  where  this  student  movement  is  not 
yet  organized.  Our  subject  was  to  find  out  how  far  we  were 
agreed  in  purpose  and  work,  and  then  how  we  could  be  of 
service  to  one  another  in  extending  the  Kingdom  of  Christ 
among  students  of  all  lands.  There  were  many  impressive 
moments  during  the  Conference,  when  we  realized  a  genuine 
fellowship  and  unity  in  purpose  and  work  and  a  lively  con- 
sciousness that  we  had  veritably  come  together  from  the  ends 
of  the  earth.  One  afternoon  we  met  about  the  Haystack  Monu- 
ment at  the  starting  point  of  American  foreign  missions  and 
listened  to  the  story  of  that  beginning  by  Williams  College 
students  of  a  movement  one  outgrowth  of  which — as  now  we 
could  distinctly  trace  it — was  this  World  Student  Brother- 
hood.2 

We  returned  home  July  12th  and  welcomed  to  dinner  on  the 
following  day  seven  of  our  foreign  friends  from  Britain,  Nor- 
way, Australia,  Germany,  and  Holland  and  the  next  day  bid 
them  goodbye  on  board  their  steamer." 

The  next  monthly  letter  is  dated  August  31st  at  the  end  of 
the. vacation  month,  and  records: 

"The  days  passed  very  quietly.  We  have  made  good  use  of 
our  bicycles.  One  day  after  breakfast  we  set  out  for  Easthamp- 
ton,  reaching  there  in  time  for  a  bath  in  the  surf  and  for  a 
ride  to  Amagansett,  where  we  took  dinner.  We  reached  home 
before  supper  time  after  a  day's  ride  of  48  miles.  On  other 
days  we  visited  in  a  similar  way  Mattituck,  Orient  Point, 
Southampton,  and  other  less  distant  places.  It  was  pleasant 
to  find  our  wheeling  ability  equal  to  these  excursions,  and  we 
have  come  to  the  end  of  an  unusually  invigorating  vacation." 

'  See  pp.  382-3  for  further  account  of  this  meeting. 


THE  EVENTFUL  YEAR  OF  1898  323 

In  the  November  letter  of  this  year  what  occurred  on  Thanks- 
giving day  is  thus  recorded : 

"The  Thanksgiving  board  of  our  old  friend  Dr.  Henry  Steb- 
bins  was  this  year  spread  in  New  York  at  the  Waldorf  Astoria 
on  this  wise:  His  two  boys  are  at  Andover  Academy  on  their 
way  to  college  and  one  of  his  daughters  is  making  her  home 
with  us  for  a  season.  So  in  their  family  plans  it  was  deter- 
mined to  concentrate  in  New  York,  as  the  boys  must  return  to 
school  on  Friday.  We  consented  to  join  forces  at  dinner  and 
found  at  the  hotel  an  academy  and  college  classmate,  Dr. 
William  W.  Seely,  of  Cincinnati,  with  his  wife  and  daughters. 
So  we  three  old  academy  boys  sought  instruction  from  the  two 
who  were  fresh  from  the  school  room  and  the  ball  field." 

McBurney's  Sickness  and  Death 

While  the  year  1898  in  relation  to  home,  office,  and  work 
on  our  own  or  other  continents  was  one  of  the  busiest,  most 
strenuous,  and  most  hopeful  of  my  life,  it  was  the  saddest  of 
years  in  connection  with  Robert  R.  McBurney,  the  friend 
among  associates  and  fellow-workers  with  whom  I  had  been 
most  affectionately  intimate.  It  was  the  last  year  of  his  life 
on  earth,  and  from  its  beginning  until  the  day  after  Christ- 
mas when  the  end  came,  it  was  with  him  a  year  of  days  and 
nights  of  sickness  and  suffering,  and  toward  the  close,  of  a 
weakness  which  became  unbearable. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  thirty-five  years  of  his  secretary- 
ship, at  the  end  of  1897  he  gave  up  making  his  usual  careful 
preparation  for  the  Annual  Report  of  the  New  York  Asso- 
ciation and  its  anniversary  meeting  in  January  at  which  that 
report  was  read.  This  had  been  for  years,  especially  since  the 
Association  had  entered  its  building  in  December,  1869,  a 
strong  annual  feature  of  his  efficiency  as  an  executive  Secre- 
tary, and  it  was  one  of  those  exemplary  features  of  his  official 
life  often  quoted  as  worthy  of  all  imitation  by  his  fellow  Sec- 
retaries. What  it  cost  him  to  give  up  an  undertaking  which 
had  such  rank  with  him  among  things  essential,  only  those 
most  intimate  with  him  could  appreciate,  and  there  was  in  it 
an  ominous  note  of  final  withdrawal. 

December  and  January  he  spent  at  Atlantic  City,  with  a 
friend,  and  on  his  return  we  hoped  that  he  would  recover, 
under  vigilant  care  in  his  "Tower  Room."    The  doctors  called 


324  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

in  for  consultation  agreed  that  his  recovery  would  be  promoted 
by  removal  to  a  hospital.  There  he  remained  a  prisoner  week 
after  week  until  autumn.  Morning  and  evening  on  my  way 
between  home  and  office  upon  my  wheel  I  called  upon  him, 
until  I  left  to  attend  the  two  World  Conferences  in  Europe. 
Before  this  time,  early  in  his  stay,  it  was  decided  that  a 
surgical  operation  was  desirable.  In  the  operating  room  I 
was  permitted  to  be  present,  after  he  had  discovered  that  I 
was  sure  that  this  was  my  own  preference.  It  was  a  prefer- 
ence founded  on  a  discovery,  without  his  knowledge,  that  it 
was  his  preference.  We  were  all  hopeful  that  the  result  would 
be  complete  recovery. 

He  was  very  much  gratified  by  receiving  from  Basle  the 
brotherly  greeting  from  the  World's  Conference  sent  at  the 
suggestion  of  Sir  George  Williams.  On  my  return  he  was  still 
in  the  hospital,  but  able  to  walk  occasionally  in  the  portion  of 
Central  Park  near  at  hand.  He  also  had  been  able  to  spend 
a  day  with  Mrs.  Morse  in  our  new  home,  a  call  he  seemed  to 
enjoy  greatly.  He  resisted  all  her  efforts,  reenforced  by  coun- 
sel from  his  doctors,  to  come  to  us  from  the  hospital  and  make 
our  home  his  also.  His  one  reiterated  reason  was  "that  it 
would  be  too  much  of  a  tax  for  her,  and  that  he  would  give 
too  much  trouble."  This  refusal  was  to  both  of  us  a  source  of 
never-ending  regret,  for  we  felt  that  we  could  have  made  his 
last  days  far  more  comfortable. 

At  the  hospital  now  all  had  been  done  for  him  that  could  be 
accomplished  by  doctors  and  nurses.  He  had  made  friends 
of  all  with  whom  he  had  come  in  contact,  and  one  day  when 
Mrs.  Morse  was  visiting  him,  one  of  his  nurses  very  insistently 
and  wonderingly  assured  her  that  they  had  "never  had  a 
patient  who  was  one  bit  like  him." 

From  the  hospital  he  went  to  the  Adirondacks  for  August. 
There,  on  going  to  visit  him,  I  found  him  no  stronger,  and 
solicitude  began  to  deepen  into  despondency  and  hopelessness. 
My  visit  was  a  very  mournful  one,  but  I  cherish  the  memory 
of  his  patience  and  faith  and  the  affectionate  winsomeness 
and  thoughtfulness  with  which  he  was  making  friends  to  the 
very  end  of  his  life. 

From  the  Adirondacks  he  went  to  Clifton  Springs,  where  he 
gradually  grew  weaker,  as  was  very  evident  every  time  I  was 


THE  EVENTFUL  YEAR  OF  1898  326 

able  to  go  there  to  see  him.  His  friend  William  E.  Dodge,  hear- 
ing that  he  could  not  comfortably  use  any  ordinary  easy  chair, 
asked  me  to  select  one  which  could  be  adapted  to  his  use. 
This  token  of  friendly  solicitude  was  very  grateful  to  him. 
As  he  grew  feebler  he  had  need  of  two  attendants — two  young 
men — the  last  of  a  multitude  whom  he  had  loved  and  attached 
to  himself  as  their  friend.  In  their  ministry  of  faithful  serv- 
ice they  represented  a  love  and  tenderness  which  would  at  that 
time  have  been  placed  at  his  service,  in  almost  any  quarter 
of  the  globe  where  he  might  have  been,  by  those  who  eagerly 
would  have  made  grateful  acknowledgment  of  how  he  had 
come  into  their  lives,  not  to  be  ministered  to,  but  to  minister, 
and  to  give  his  life  in  Christlike  service.  The  end  came  quite 
unexpectedly,  on  the  day  after  Christmas,  and  the  privilege 
of  being  with  him  was  denied  me. 

By  his  will  many  of  his  treasures  in  the  ''Tower  Room" 
were  bequeathed  to  Mrs.  Morse.  Not  a  few  of  these  he  had  col- 
lected in  the  course  of  many  happy  journeys  during  which  they 
had  searched  together  for  such  treasure  in  antique  shops  and 
out-of-the-way  corners.  She  had  far  more  sympathy  with 
him  than  I  in  the  gratification  of  these  tastes  which  were  among 
the  recreations  of  his  life.  They  both  followed  such  quests 
with  genuine  enjoyment,  and  had  much  good-natured  rivalry 
as  to  good  "finds."  By  this  bequest  he  knew  he  would  bring 
into  our  home  mementos  pleasantly  associated  with  himself 
and  the  good  times  we  had  had  together. 

His  largest  bequest,  aside  from  the  residuary  estate  be- 
queathed to  his  brother  in  Australia,  was  the  sum  of  two  thou- 
sand dollars  to  the  Springfield  Training  School,  in  which  as 
fellow  trustees  we  had  taken  the  deepest  interest,  attending 
together  with  almost  unfailing  regularity  the  monthly  meet- 
ings during  the  administration  of  its  first  three  presidents. 

In  a  memorandum  connected  with  his  will  was  a  request 
concerning  any  memorial  meeting  that  might  be  held  after 
his  death.  He  wished  its  main  feature  to  be  an  appeal  to 
young  men  to  become  disciples  of  Christ,  and  suggested  the 
four  speakers  who  he  desired  should  take  part  in  the  meet- 
ing. This  wish  was  carried  out  at  a  service  held  in  Associa- 
tion Hall,  when  the  four  speakers  were  William  E.  Dodge,  who 
presided,  Cephas  Brainerd,  Wm.  W.  Hoppin,  and  myself.    The 


326  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

sense  of  the  loss  of  this  friend  and  the  wish  for  his  presence, 
sympathy,  and  counsel  continue  with  me  in  vivid  consciousness, 
although  nineteen  years  have  passed  since  his  departure.  It 
will  continue  to  the  close  of  this  earthly  life  and  until  it  dis- 
appears in  the  realities  of  a  satisfying  endless  reunion. 

"The  Tower  Room"  op  Robert  R.  McBurney 

What  in  recent  years  (191G)  has  been  known  as  "the  old 
Twenty-third  Street  Building"  stood  at  the  corner  of  Twenty- 
third  Street  and  Fourth  Avenue,  and  was  erected  in  18G8-9. 
At  the  time  of  its  disappearance  in  1903,  it  was  only  thirty-four 
years  old.  During  its  first  decade  we  fully  expected  that  it 
would  outlive  all  of  us  who  were  working  in  it  at  that  time. 
Happily  for  Robert  McBurney  it  did  outlive  him,  for  he  would 
have  mourned  its  disappearance  as  a  sore  bereavement. 

It  was  a  product  and  child  of  his  thoughtful  solicitude  for 
the  welfare  of  young  men.  Within  it  for  many  years  he  found 
his  dwelling  place  and  home,  and  it  was  also  the  home  of  his 
life  work.  It  takes  high  rank  among  historic  structures, 
being  the  first  of  distinctive  Association  buildings  and  present- 
ing the  main  points  of  that  pattern  on  which  all  have  since 
been  erected,  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

After  330  buildings  on  this  and  other  continents  had  been 
built — more  or  less  on  its  pattern,  and  many  of  them  contain- 
ing improvements  with  all  of  which  he  was  familiar  and  many 
of  which  he  had  suggested — he  took  great  interest  and  pride 
in  again  serving  the  New  York  Association  as  its  architect 
in  erecting  the  West  Side  Branch  building,  which  "was  dedicated 
a  year  before  his  death.  This  embodied  all  improvements  up 
to  that  date. 

Without  wife  or  children  to  make  a  home  for  him  to  dwell 
in,  he  found  his  most  congenial  abode  in  the  building  where 
the  best  work  of  his  noble  life  had  been  wrought,  and  where 
his  environment  was  immediately  associated  with  the  friend- 
ships he  was  cultivating  and  enjoying.  From  the  day  that 
the  building  was  occupied  he  cherished  the  thought  of  living 
in  it.  But  all  his  friends  on  the  Board  of  Directors,  and 
particularly  President  Dodge,  were  opposed  to  this  plan.  They 
believed  such  a  residence  would  be  prejudicial  to  his  health, 
because  of  the  temptation  to  overwork  which  he  would  meet, 


^//.^^ir  «• 


THE  EVENTFUL  YEAR  OF  1898  327 

and  could  not  resist.  He  did  not  agree  with  them,  but  bided 
his  time  and  opportunity.  These  arrived  during  Mr.  Dodge's 
retirement  from  the  presidency,  owing  to  ill  health,  and  when 
the  tenant  of  the  Tower  Room  gave  up  his  lease. 

When  the  building  was  completed  the  two  upper  floors  were 
promptly  rented  for  artists'  studios,  for  at  that  time  on  an 
opposite  corner  stood  the  new  building  of  the  Academy  of 
Design.  This  location  was  therefore  very  desirable  for  artists. 
Above  the  four  stories  of  the  building  was  the  mansard  roof 
containing  a  fifth,  and  surmounted  by  a  small  ornamental 
tower  at  each  corner.  At  the  middle  of  the  23rd  Street  eleva- 
tion there  was  a  higher  and  larger  tower.  This  central  tower 
was  large  enough  to  be  divided  into  two  stories,  the  ujjper 
one  containing  a  large  room,  with  three  windows  on  the  front, 
and  two  on  the  sides.  Back  of  this  was  a  bedroom  with  outlook 
toward  the  south.    The  lower  floor  contained  one  room. 

When  he  secured  this  abiding  place  he  was  nearly  forty 
years  of  age.  He  had  left  his  father's  home  in  Ireland  at  the 
age  of  fifteen  and  ever  since  had  been  a  wanderer,  in  boarding 
houses.  Now  he  was  able  to  abide  for  the  remaining  twenty 
years  of  his  life,  in  these  ample  attractive  rooms,  commanding 
a  wide  outlook  over  the  city.  Here  he  gathered  artistic  and 
comfortable  antique  furniture,  rugs,  bric-a-brac,  pictures,  and 
a  library,  all  reflecting  the  excellence  and  refinement  of  his 
tastes. 

His  fondness  for  hymns  and  Bible  study  was  indicated  by  a 
rare  collection  and  selection  of  hymns  ancient  and  modern, 
and  by  well  chosen  commentaries.  He  was  a  fisherman  of 
skill,  and  valued  his  ample  store  of  fishing  tackle,  which  also 
appealed  to  the  many  kindred  spirits  among  his  friends.  One 
of  his  greatest  recreations  was  to  haunt  the  windows  and 
shops  of  dealers  in  antiques.  In  these  and  other  pastimes 
he  conveyed  to  those  with  him  the  impression  that  he  was 
never  losing  sight  of  the  main  object  of  his  life,  in  all  his  inter- 
course with  men. 

There  were  many  evidences  in  these  rooms  that  he  was  a 
smoker,  but  they  were  also  a  cleanly,  orderly,  comfortable 
resort  for  his  more  numerous  friends  who  did  not  smoke. 
Every  Saturday  afternoon  was  set  apart  for  Bible  study  in 
preparation  for  the  class  to  be  taught  on  Sunday.    This  was 


328  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

the  one  period  of  the  week  wheu  he  must  not  be  disturbed. 
The  rooms  were  large  enough  to  enable  him  to  entertain 
friends  over  night.  George  A,  Hall,  State  Secretary  of  New- 
York,  his  lifelong  friend,  testified  that  such  entertainment 
gave  him  in  the  morning  his  best  opportunity  for  consulta- 
tion and  conference  with  the  leading  member  and  best  counselor 
of  his  Committee. 

During  his  first  five  years  in  the  tower  (1876-81)  until  my 
sister  came  to  live  with  me  in  the  city,  I  occupied  the  room 
on  the  lower  floor,  which  had  been  fitted  up  in  a  homelike 
manner  by  two  of  my  sisters.  For  the  seven  jears  preceding 
our  offices  had  been  close  to  one  another,  and  during  this 
period  we  had  taken  our  meals  together.  Now  for  a  season 
we  made  our  abode  together  and  ever  afterward,  to  the  end 
of  his  life,  his  dwelling  place  was  for  me  a  homelike  resort, 
the  scene  of  countless  conferences  and  consultations. 

Here  every  January,  as  the  fourth  Monday — the  eventful 
day  of  the  New  York  Association  anniversary — approached, 
he  called  about  him  the  group  of  helpers  whom  he  enlisted  in 
the  preparation  of  his  annual  report  for  the  Board  of  Direc- 
tors, which  w^as  to  be  read  to  the  general  public  on  the  eve- 
ning of  anniversary  day.  The  important  facts  and  figures  were 
always  there,  but  never  in  the  same  form  and  order.  An  out- 
look over  the  whole  Association  field  he  coveted.  The  State 
Work  paragraph  must  be  made  interesting.  The  International 
point  of  view  and  the  World's  Conference  in  its  season  must 
be  given  fitting  mention. 

Many  events  of  consequence  transpired  in  the  Tower  Eoom. 
Offers  of  more  than  one  critical  resignation — too  hastily  deter- 
mined upon — were  here  withdrawn  after  patient  reconsidera- 
tion. Not  a  few  life  decisions,  and  many  lifelong  influences 
for  good  dated  from  prayer  and  interview  here. 

Here  also  a  feast  w^as  given  one  evening  in  December,  1882, 
the  anniversary  of  which  continues  in  international  force  and 
dimensions  until  the  present  day. 

Who  can  tell,  or  even  trace  all  the  streams  of  gracious, 
blessed,  healing,  lifegiving  influence  that  flowed  even  unto  the 
ends  of  the  earth,  and  into  the  eternities,  from  this  Tower 
Room,  and  from  the  life  and  work  and  ministry  of  Robert 
McBurney ! 


CHAPTER  XVII 

STUDENT   WORK— LOCAL  AND   INTERCOLLEGIATE 

Interest  in  Student  Work  at  Yale 
Preparing  for  an  Association  at  Yale 

Of  ancestral  and  personal  relation  to  Yale  College  and 
University  some  account  already  has  been  given,  and  also  of 
a  first  endeavor  in  1874  and  '75^  to  promote  among  under- 
graduates there  the  forming  of  a  College  Association.  A  year 
or  two  later  and  more  successfully,  at  Princeton,  Luther  D. 
Wishard,  improving  his  opportunity  as  an  undergraduate  at 
the  head  of  the  student  Christian  organization,  led  his  fellow 
students — while  conserving  the  name  and  traditions  of  the 
Philadelphian  Society — to  make  it  a  College  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association.  A  similar  change  at  Yale  seemed  to  me 
practicable  and  consistent  with  conserving  the  office  and  work 
of  the  class  deacons  whose  oflSce  dates  from  early  in  the  nine- 
teenth century.2  This  could  be  accomplished,  I  thought,  by 
adding  so  much  of  Association  organization  and  methods  as 
it  was  fitting  to  appropriate.  And  now  after  the  beginning 
of  the  intercollegiate  movement,  and  with  a  College  Secretary 
actually  in  the  field,  Luther  D.  Wishard,  a  third  opportunity 
was  presented  to  me  for  a.conference  with  the  students  at  New 
Haven  in  company  with  this  Secretary  during  the  first  year 
of  his  service. 

In  that  year  (1878)  College  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciations— in  feeble  condition  as  isolated  local  societies — were 
surviving  the  first  period  of  their  history.  For  as  early  as 
1858  and  1859  the  first  two  of  these  student  societies  had  been 
formed,  without  any  knowledge  of  one  another,  at  the  widely 
separated  universities  of  Virginia  and  Michigan.  A  few  years 
later,  in  1862,  one  was  formed  in  Rochester  (New  York)  Uni- 
versity. 

» p.  142. 

« Pp.  13,  142. 

329 


330  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Before  becoming  a  Secretary  of  the  International  Committee 
I  had  learned  of  the  first  of  these  three  student  societies  from 
my  friend  Reverend  Dr.  John  A.  Broadus,  who  in  the  period 
before  the  Civil  War,  while  a  pastor  in  Charlottesville,  had 
served  as  a  chajjlain  of  the  University  of  Virginia.  He  cher- 
ished very  pleasant  recollections  of  his  service  in  that  office 
and  of  vital  contact  with  the  Student  Association  which  was 
formed  there  during  his  chai^laincy  in  the  midst  of  the  coun- 
trywide revival  of  1858.  About  the  same  time,  I  had  received, 
as  already  mentioned,  a  very  favorable  impression  of  the 
Association  at  Rochester  University  from  another  friend, 
President  Anderson  of  that  institution.^  The  founder  of  the 
Michigan  University  Association,  Professor  A.  K.  Spence,  I 
had  met  (1870)  at  my  first  International  Convention.  This 
Convention  was  the  fifteenth  in  the  series  of  these  annual 
meetings,  but  among  its  delegates  there  was  no  undergraduate 
student.  Few  if  any  had  come  to  the  preceding  fourteen  Con- 
ventions with  any  message  of  which  printed  record  had  been 
made.  Quite  a  number  of  societies  had  been  formed  with 
little  or  no  knowledge  of  one  another  and  unaided  by  helpful 
intercourse. 

While  these  College  Associations,  during  their  early  pioneer 
period  before  1870,  had  been  too  feeble  and  isolated  to  get 
together,  the  stronger  City  Associations  had  met  in  these 
fifteen  International  Conventions,  and  since  1866  in  many 
more  State  Conventions.  They  were  beginning  also  to  create 
supervisory  agencies  and  through  their  International  Com- 
mittee to  obtain  knowledge  and  feel  solicitude  concerning 
these  isolated  College  Associations.  A  first  indication  of  this 
appeared  in  the  Association  Monthly  early  in  1870,  in  articles 
by  President  Anderson  and  Professor  Spence."*  Two  years 
before,  at  the  Convention  of  1868,  Professor  Spence  had  failed 
to  secure  the  passing  of  a  resolution  favoring  the  organization 
of  Student  Associations,  but  at  the  Convention  of  1870  he  for 
the  first  time  met  both  agents — Weidensall  and  myself — of  the 
International  Committee,  who  were  in  hearty  sympathy  with 
his  resolution.    This  time  it  was  adopted. 

This  action  opened  a  path  to  the  colleges  for  Robert  Weiden- 


«  p.  63. 

*  Pp.  64,  65. 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE         331 

sail,  which  he  entered  with  convictiou  and  energy,  although 
he  could  give  only  a  part  of  his  time  to  this  portion  of  his  wide 
field.  A  few  students  began  to  come  to  the  Conventions.  In 
1872  at  the  University  of  Virginia  Weidensall  found  the  stu- 
dents so  doubtful  of  their  being  desired  in  the  City  Association 
brotherhood  that  they  were  seriously  considering  a  change  of 
name,  but  they  cordially  responded  to  the  greeting  and  mes- 
sage of  this  pioneer  leader.  He  also  organized  new  societies 
and,  most  important  of  all,  the  man^  was  found  for  organizing 
and  the  demand  created  for  a  union  of  the  students  of  the 
different  colleges.  This  led  to  the  creation  already  described 
of  an  Intercollegiate  Movement  at  the  Convention  of  1877  in 
Louisville. 

It  was  the  knowledge  of  this  movement  and  its  Secretary 
that  I  could  now  bring  to  Yale  students  on  my  third  visit  and 
both  were  welcomed  by  them.  Already  also  among  the  class 
deacons  and  other  Christian  leaders  "the  need  began  to  be 
keenly  felt  of  some  coordinating  agency  which  would  express 
the  Christian  spirit  of  all  the  classes  and  which  would  furnish 
opportunity  for  united  aggressive  action."^  It  was  at  this 
period  also  that  Moody  accepted  the  invitation  of  five  hundred 
Yale  students  to  visit  the  college,  and  a  season  of  deep  reli- 
gious interest  followed.  Alluding  to  this  event  Dr.  Henry  B. 
Wright  adds:*^  "For  over  twenty  years  after  this  first  visit, 
until  his  death  (1899)  Mr.  Moody  came  to  Yale  at  intervals, 
never  failing  to  gain  the  respect  and  love  of  all  who  heard  him 
in  each  succeeding  college  generation."  This  visit  of  1878 
seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  influences  contributing  to  the 
establishment  of  that  "coordinating  agency  for  which  men  at 
Yale  for  some  years  had  been  groping." 

One  result  of  this  third  visit  was  that  when  the  next  Con- 
vention met  at  Baltimore,  in  the  summer  of  1879,  Yale  was 
represented  by  a  delegate,  William  B.  Boomer  of  the  class  of 
'80,  who,  since  his  graduation,  has  given  his  life  devotedly  to 
foreign  missionary  service  in  Chili.  Wishard  had  invited  the 
College  Pastor  at  Yale,  Dr.  William  M.  Barbour,  to  attend. 
He  was  unable  to  do  so  and  at  his  request  Boomer  consented 


6  Pp.  65,  95. 

"  "Two  Centuries  of  Christian  Activuty  at  Yale,"  p.  212. 

7  n)id..  p.  107. 


332  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

to  go.  At  Baltimore  he  met  with  forty-seven  fellow  delegates 
from  thirty  colleges,  and  was  deeply  impressed  by  their  ac- 
counts of  Student  Association  Work.  On  his  return  his  favor- 
able report  was  one  of  the  influences  which  led  to  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Yale  Christian  Social  Union.  Another  strong 
influence  was  the  sympathetic  cooperation  of  Arthur  C.  Dill 
of  the  class  of  1880  and  Professor  Cyrus  D.  Northrop,  after- 
ward for  so  many  years  President  of  the  State  University  of 
Minnesota.  This  Christian  Social  Union  brought  together  the 
students  of  the  different  classes,  supplementing  in  an  excellent 
way  the  good  work  which  for  many  years  had  been  carried  on 
within  each  class  under  the  leadership  of  the  deacons. 

The  Yale  Association  Formed 

In  the  summer  of  1881  the  college  was  again  represented  at 
the  International  Convention  in  Cleveland.  The  student  dele- 
gation was  stronger  than  at  Baltimore.  The  Yale  delegate, 
Charles  Lough  ridge  of  '83,  on  his  return  presented  a  report  so 
satisfactory  that  it  was  heartily  voted  to  enter  the  Intercol- 
legiate Movement  as  the  Yale  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, and  the  following  autumn  I  had  the  pleasure  of  attending 
the  Massachusetts  State  Convention  in  company  with  Alfred 
C.  Hand  of  the  class  of  1882,  the  first  President  of  this  Asso- 
ciation. 

Among  the  delegates  to  this  Convention  was  another  under- 
graduate who  came  from  Williams  College,  Charles  K.  Ober. 
A  paper  upon  Student  Association  Work  read  by  him  so  favor- 
ably impressed  me  that  upon  my  suggestion  he  was  approached 
by  Wishard  and  then  by  McBurney  as  a  promising  candidate 
for  the  secretaryship.  This  led  to  his  accepting,  after  gradu- 
ation, a  call  from  McBurney  to  be  one  of  his  assistants  in  the 
New  York  Association.  Later  he  became  State  Secretary  of 
Massachusetts  and  then  joined  the  college  staflf  of  our  Com- 
mittee, showing  such  fine  qualification  that  in  due  time  he  was 
the  successor  of  Wishard  as  chief  College  Secretary. 

From  Williams  and  Amherst  also,  delegates  were  present 
at  the  Massachusetts  Convention.  During  this  season  I  spent 
a  Sunday  with  the  newly  formed  Association  at  Williams  Col- 
lege, and  another  week-end  at  Harvard  with  the  students  of 
the  "United  Brethren,"  a  society  dating  from  1802,  the  mem- 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE         333 

bers  of  which  were  also  on  their  way  to  join,  a  few  years  later 
(1886),  our  Student  Association  brotherhood. 

The  Yale  Association  Building 

The  following  summer  (1882)  a  very  significant  undertaking 
was  begun.  While  I  was  attending  in  June  at  New  Haven  the 
annual  meeting  of  Association  Secretaries,  the  President  of 
the  Yale  Association,  James  B.  Reynolds  of  the  class  of  '84 
and  E.  E.  Aiken  of  '81,  on  behalf  of  the  Christian  students, 
reported  to  me  the  project  of  a  building  on  the  campus  for 
the  College  Association.  President  Porter  had  been  consulted 
and  was  in  favor  of  the  undertaking.  A  canvass  for  a  building 
fund  was  proposed  and  a  cooperation  was  sought  from  me 
which  I  was  more  eager  to  give  than  they  were  to  seek. 

Their  plan  to  solicit  from  the  alumni  a  fund  of  .f2.5,000  did 
not  seem  to  me  the  best  path  to  what  they  desired,  for  the 
Association  had  not  been  established  long  enough  to  command 
any  wide  and  numerous  response  from  the  alumni.  Search  for 
a  single  donor,  able  and  willing  to  give  the  whole  amount 
needed,  and  intelligently  impressed  with  the  value  of  such  a 
gift,  seemed  to  me  more  likely  to  secure  an  adequate  fund.  In 
expressing  this  opinion,  the  name  of  a  donor  likely  to  respond 
favorably  occurred  to  me,  and  I  promised  to  make  a  report 
to  them  after  a  few  weeks,  when  I  would  be  visiting  New  Haven 
to  attend  the  twentieth  year  meeting  of  my  class  of  1862. 

I  had  thought  of  Frederick  Marquand,  a  generous  friend  of 
both  Yale  and  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  A 
retired  Christian  merdiant  of  New  York,  and  a  trustee  and 
benefactor  of  the  Association  in  that  city,  he  had  already 
placed  on  the  campus  at  Yale  a  building  for  the  Divinity 
School,  known  as  Marquand  Chapel.  His  niece  from  her  girl- 
hood had  been  to  him  in  the  relation  of  a  daughter  and  only 
child,  and  was  now  the  wife  of  Elbert  B.  Monroe,  President  of 
the  New  York  Association.  Mr.  Marquand  was  residing  at 
Southport,  Connecticut,  with  his  niece  and  her  husband,  and 
here  I  called  on  my  way  to  class  meeting,  late  in  June.  It 
was  my  first  and  last  interview  of  this  kind  with  my  friend. 
In  its  results — personal,  social,  and  official — it  proved  as  im- 
portant and  far-reaching  as  any  similar  event  in  my  experi- 
ence. 


334  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

After  entering  his  house,  however,  I  at  once  abandoned  any 
hope  of  seeing  him,  for  Mrs.  Monroe  told  me  with  regret,  that 
her  uncle,  after  a  somewhat  fatiguing  journey,  had  retired 
to  his  room  to  sleep  and  could  not  be  disturbed.  To  console 
me  she  very  courteously  served  afternoon  tea.  When  half  my 
time  had  expired,  she  returned  to  announce  that  her  uncle 
had  awakened,  had  asked  whether  any  one  had  called  to  see 
him,  and  on  being  told  that  I  was  there  had  insisted  on  seeing 
me.  It  now  seemed  too  late  to  present  the  subject  of  the  Yale 
building,  and  I  began  to  report  to  him  our  Association  work 
on  the  Bowery,  in  which  he  had  recently  taken  a  generous 
interest.  In  a  few  minutes  he  interrupted  me,  saying:  ''You 
have  come  to  see  me  on  a  special  errand.  Tell  me  about  it."  So, 
more  briefly  than  I  had  intended,  what  the  Y'ale  students 
wanted  was  stated.  He  was  favorably  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  such  a  building  on  the  Yale  campus,  and  asked 
whether  the  present  Marquand  Chapel,  which  he  had  already 
erected,  could  be  used  for  the  purpose.  When  shown  that  this 
was  not  available,  he  offered  to  give  favorable  consideration 
to  our  request,  but  could  not  just  then  make  a  definite  pledge. 

I  never  saw  him  again,  for  within  three  weeks  he  died.  Soon 
after,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Monroe  went  abroad,  and  when  the  new 
college  year  opened  (September,  1882)  it  seemed  best  to  at- 
tempt a  canvass  of  the  alumni,  and  friends  of  the  Association. 
A  book  of  subscriptions  was  opened  in  the  hope  of  securing 
at  least  $20,000.  A  rough  sketch  of  a  building  was  also  made 
— the  principal  feature  of  which  was  to  be  four  rooms  of  equal 
size,  at  the  corners  of  the  main  floor,  for  the  four  class  prayer 
meetings.  The  site  suggested  by  President  Porter  was  at  the 
corner  of  the  campus  between  Alumni  Hall — a  building  which 
has  since  disappeared — and  the  Durfee  Dormitory.  The  space 
available  seemed  very  small  for  our  purpose  and  we  hoped  a 
better  site  would  be  offered  before  it  was  time  to  build. 

This  college  year  also  was  signalized  by  the  meeting  on  the 
Yale  campus  in  February,  1883,  of  the  first  ''Conference  of 
the  New  England  College  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tions." It  was  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  six  annual  meet- 
ings which  were  finally  merged  in  the  larger,  longer,  and  more 
effective  Northfield  Conferences.  To  all  of  them  Princeton 
was  invited  and  sent  delegates.     To  this  first  one,  at  Yale's 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE         335 

invitation,  there  came  nineteen  delegates  from  Harvard, 
Brown,  Williams,  Amherst,  Dartmouth,  Bowdoin,  Bates, 
Colby,  and  Princeton,  also  from  Andover  and  Williston 
Academies.  So  profound  an  interest  was  awakened  at  Yale 
that  for  a  week  after  the  impressive  farewell  service  on  Sun- 
day, we  continued  daily,  well  attended  services  on  the  campus, 
led  by  Samuel  M.  Sayford,  then  Massachusetts  State  Secre- 
tary, who  had  been  a  welcome  leader  of  similar  meetings  at 
Amherst  and  Williams.  A  number  of  entry  prayer  meetings 
were  held  and  in  response  to  wise  personal  effort  some  twenty 
conversions  resulted.  The  good  influence  of  the  conference 
extended  to  other  colleges  and  a  new  impression  of  the  spirit- 
ual values  in  intercollegiate  work  was  created. 

Diligent  effort  for  the  Yale  building  fund  was  continued. 
In  seeking  help  from  the  alumni,  and  in  accord  with  under- 
graduate precedent  for  such  an  undertaking,  a  graduate  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  cooperate.  The  chairman  chosen  at 
my  suggestion  was  James  McCormick^  of  the  class  of  '53,  a 
member  of  the  International  Committee,  prominently  con- 
nected with  the  whole  Association  movement  and  especially 
interested  in  its  Student  Department.  His  four  sons  gradu- 
ated at  Yale  in  the  classes  of  '84,  '87,  and  '90,  and  a  nephew, 
Vance  C.  McCormick,  in  1893  S.  In  June,  1883,  he  and  I  were 
appointed  as  the  beginning  of  the  Committee,  and  soon  after 
Dr.  D.  Stuart  Dodge  of  the  class  of  '57  was  chosen  treasurer 
and  James  B.  Keynolds  of  '84  secretary.  The  President  of 
the  Association,  Charles  Loughridge  of  '83,  was  ex-officio  a 
member.  The  two  student  members  began  a  solicitation 
among  alumni  in  Boston,  New  York,  and  other  cities.  From 
two  Association  friends  I  secured  an  offer  of  |10,000  and  we 
were  hoping  to  complete  a  fund  of  |20,000  or  |25,000. 

But  in  the  autumn  of  1883  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Monroe  returned 
from  their  trip  abroad,  and  in  our  first  interview  upon  my 
alluding  to  the  Yale  Association  building,  a  most  pleasant 
surprise  came  to  me  when  they  replied  that  they  thought 
seriously  of  erecting  the  building  in  the  name  of  their  uncle, 
and  in  accord  with  what  they  knew  bad  been  his  intention. 
They  asked  whether  we  had  proceeded  so  far  as  to  preclude 
carrying  out  this  'project.     Inquiry  showed  that  almost  all 

8  p.  128. 


336  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

the  pledges  already  secured  for  the  building  would  be  gladly 
given  for  a  fund,  the  income  of  which  would  be  needed  for  a 
library  and  kindred  uses  connected  with  the  work. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Monroe  manifested  a  desire  to  furnish  a  build- 
ing, adequate  to  accommodate  the  work  of  larger  dimensions 
which  was  called  for.  To  them  the  site  {proposed  seemed  as 
inadequate  for  such  a  purpose  as  it  had  seemed  to  us.  On 
consultation  with  President  Porter,  a  somewhat  protracted 
deliberation  by  the  Corporation  ensued,  for  other  friends  of 
Yale  had  other  plans  for  the  occupation  of  the  site  proposed. 
During  this  deliberation  the  donors  courteously  withdrew 
their  offer  and  the  delay  of  a  year  followed.  But  during  May, 
1885,  the  Corporation  voted  to  '*set  aside  the  site  between  the 
Library  and  Alumni  Hall  for  Dwight  Hall,  a  building  to  be 
devoted  to  the  voluntary  religious  services  of  the  students." 
During  the  same  month  the  students  petitioned  the  donors  to 
renew  their  offer.  This  they  consented  to  do  and  that  summer 
ground  was  broken  for  the  building. 

As  early  as  April,  1884,  Monroe  had  asked  the  graduate 
committee  and  a  group  of  Student  Association  officers  to  dine 
with  him  at  the  New  Haven  House  for  consultation  about  a 
plan  for  the  new  building,  which  had  been  prepared  by  the 
architect.  This  consultation  resulted  in  the  plan  which  was 
followed  in  the  construction  of  Dwight  Hall,  as  it  now  (1917) 
stands. 

At  the  four  corners  of  the  main  floor  the  four  class-rooms 
opened  into  a  large,  central  social  room.  On  the  second  floor 
were  the  library,  two  smaller  rooms,  and  a  large  hall  seating 
some  five  hundred  and  equipped  with  an  organ,  while  on  a 
third  floor  yet  further  accommodation  was  found  for  what 
was  needed  in  the  future  development  of  the  work.  On  this 
floor  also  were  two  rooms  for  the  use  of  the  Secretary.  The 
name  of  Dwight  Hall  was  adopted  in  memory  of  the  elder 
President  Dwight,  for  whom  Frederick  Marquand  had  cher- 
ished a  life-long  reverential  regard. 

While  these  plans  were  being  formed,  other  plans  of  the 
donors  had  matured  for  an  extended  layman's  missionary 
journey.  As  an  influential  member  of  the  American  Board, 
Mr.  Monroe  was  deeply  interested  in  the  foreign  missionary 
enterprise,  and  desired  such  intelligent  contact  with  it  as  is 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE         337 

gained  only  by  leisurely  travel  upon  the  field  where  the  work 
is  being  carried  on.  In  the  emergency  occasioned  by  his 
absence,  the  chairman  of  the  graduate  committee,  James  Mc- 
Cormick,  consented  to  act  for  the  donors,  and  at  his  invitation 
and  in  his  company  I  visited  New  Haven  every  month  of  this 
college  year — 1885-6 — while  Dwight  Hall  was  being  erected. 
These  visits  gave  us  opi)ortunities  to  consult  with  the  students 
in  regard  to  the  wise  use  of  an  equipment  which  was  superior 
to  any  yet  secured  by  a  Student  Association. 

ThetStudent  General  Secretaryship  Begun  at  Yale 

In  seeking  the  best  leadership  for  the  work  in  the  new  build- 
ing, we  were  wisely  guided  by  a  regard  for  both  Yale  and 
Association  tradition.  In  college  athletics,  the  volunteer 
activity  of  undergraduate  students  was  developing  excellent 
efficiency,  and  it  had  become  a  settled  policy  to  secure  the 
help  of  recently  graduated  athletes  in  the  conduct  of  these 
contests.  And  in  our  City  Association  Work,  when  a  building 
was  to  be  secured,  experience  had  shown  that  the  use  of  such 
enlarged  equipment  demanded  a  worker  w^ho  should  be  set 
apart  as  a  General  Secretary — not  to  do  all  the  work,  but  to 
train  and  use  an  increasing  number  of  volunteers  on  com- 
mittees for  a  work  far  larger  than  the  Association  could 
attempt  before  the  building  was  secured.  After  careful  con- 
sultation, all  agreed  that  on  the  completion  of  Dwight  Hall 
in  October,  1886,  a  Yale  Association  General  Secretary  was 
needed,  but  where  could  he  be  found?  Yale  tradition  in 
athletics  said  he  should  be  a  recent  graduate,  who  had  shown 
capacity  and  leadership  in  the  Association  work  during  his 
undergraduate  life.  This  was  an  illustration,  perhaps,  of  how 
sometimes  "the  children  of  light"  become  as  "wise  in  their 
generation"  as  "the  children  of  this  world." 

It  was  finally  concluded  that  the  finding  and  appointment 
of  such  a  Secretary  should  devolve  upon  the  graduate  com- 
mittee, but  only  after  "full  consultation  with  the  undergradu- 
ate Association  officers  and  workers,  and  upon  the  approval 
of  the  corporation,  through  its  President."  To  this  was  added 
"a  formal  ratification  by  the  Association."  For  such  ratifica- 
tion, the  graduate  committee  was  to  present  each  appoint- 
ment to  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Association.     It  was  not 


338  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

difficult  to  find  the  man  upon  whom  all  could  heartily  unite. 
He  was  the  I^resident  of  the  Yale  Association  for  the  college 
year  which  was  closing,  as  Dwight  Hall  was  being  completed 
— Chauncey  W.  Goodrich  of  the  class  of  '86.  Naturally,  he 
had  made  other  plans  for  the  coming  year  connected  with 
preparatory  study  for  the  ministry.  But  he  was  also  loyal 
to  his  university  and  its  highest  interests.  To  what  parish 
during  the  coming  years  could  he  receive  a  more  unanimous 
and  urgent  call,  and  where  would  he  find  an  opportunity  for 
wider  service  or  greater  usefulness?  In  response  to  these  and 
other  questions  he  accepted  the  call. 

After  many  years  of  graduate  life,  he  and  his  immediate  suc- 
cessors have  put  on  record,  for  the  help  in  future  years  of  those 
invited  to  accept  the  secretaryship,  their  united  and  unanimous 
testimony  to  the  great  value  to  them  in  their  life  work,  of  this 
experience  as  Dwight  Hall  Secretaries.  After  the  new  office 
had  been  decided  upon  and  the  man  to  fill  it  secured,  the  prob- 
lem of  his  salary  was  presented  for  solution.  Thomas  C. 
Sloane,  a  member  of  the  well-known  firm  of  William  J.  Sloane 
&  Company,  a  Yale  alumnus  of  the  class  of  '68,  was  taking  a 
deep  interest  in  the  university,  and  had  become  a  member  of 
the  corporation.  When  I  called  his  attention  to  this  new 
office  and  its  value,  he  agreed  to  the  conclusion  reached  by  the 
graduate  committee,  that  this  salary  ought  to  be  furnished 
by  the  alumni,  and  then,  to  my  immense  relief,  he  generously 
offered  to  give  the  entire  amount  needed  for  two  years — a 
period  during  which  he  thought  we  could  demonstrate  the 
value  of  the  office  and  its  claim  for  continued  support  by  the 
alumni.  He  also  consented  to  become  a  member  of  the  gradu- 
ate committee. 

Dwight  Hall  Equipped  and  Dedicated 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Monroe  returned  early  in  the  autumn,  in  sea- 
son to  select  the  furniture  and  equipment  of  the  building. 
Their  provision  for  this  was  very  generous,  and  every  detail 
was  in  excellent  taste.  The  cost  of  the  building  was  |50,000 
and  of  the  equipment  |10,000.  On  the  day  of  the  dedication 
in  October,  1886,  President  Dwight  accepted  the  keys  from 
Mr.  Monroe  and  in  his  address  said :  "The  significance  of  the 
gift  of  this  building  is  to  be  found  in  its  witness  for  Christ 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE         339 

and  His  truth.  ...  As  one  who  has  loved  this  university 
almost  with  the  love  of  the  family  and  the  home,  I  have  a 
deep  satisfaction  in  the  entrance  of  this  new  building  into  the 
number  of  those  which  make  the  dwelling  place  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, because  I  am  sure  that  the  Cause  and  Kingdom  of  Christ 
will  be  stronger  here  by  reason  of  its  presence." 

Chauucey  Goodrich  served  very  acceptably  the  first  year  as 
first  General  Secretary  and  was  followed  the  second  year  by 
"Billy  Phelps"  of  1887,  who  later  became  known  as  Professor 
William  Lyon  Phelps.  His  earlier  name,  however,  is  more 
current  among  undergraduates  and  this  use  of  it  confers  on 
him  a  merited  distinction !  Alonzo  A.  Stagg  of  1888  was  the 
third  Secretary  and  was  the  first  to  consent  to  continue  in 
office  for  two  years,  1888-90.  By  this  course  he  established  a 
good  precedent. 

To  my  surprise  and  regret  James  McCormick  resigned  the 
chairmanship  of  the  graduate  committee  in  1889.  To  find  and 
secure  another  alumnus  of  corresponding  qualifications,  who 
was  able  and  willing  to  give  the  time  and  attention  demanded 
by  the  chairmanship,  was  difficult.  Under  protest  I  consented 
to  act  for  a  time  and  served  until  1900.  Stagg  was  succeeded 
for  two  years  by  Clitford  W.  Barnes  of  '88,  who  was  followed 
in  turn  by  Henry  Fowler  of  '90  for  two  years,  and  Thomas 
Archbald  of  '96  for  one  year.  William  H.  Sallmon  of  '94  was 
the  first  secretary  to  hold  office  for  three  years,  1894-7. 

At  the  tenth  anniversary  of  the  dedication  of  Dwight  Hall 
(October  18,  1896),  a  graduate  ex-president,  William  Sloane, 
of  the  class  of  1895,  said :  "I  cannot  but  compare  the  strength 
and  efficiency  of  the  Yale  Association  today,  as  shown  in  yes- 
terday's Yale  Xeics  editorial,  with  the  prevailing  feeling  even 
as  late  as  1891,  when  I  entered  college."  And  the  undergradu- 
ate Association  President  of  that  college  year  (1896-7),  Henry 
Sloane  Coffin,  in  his  President's  Keport,  says:  "The  growtt 
of  the  Association  during  the  past  year  has  made  it  a  more 
powerful  factor  in  the  student  community.  .  .  .  186  men  have 
been  active  workers  on  the  various  committees.  .  .  .  The 
generous  gift  of  a  building  for  the  use  of  the  Scientific  School 
members  augurs  well  for  the  work  in  that  department.  As 
the  University  grows,  the  Association  ought  to  develop  a 
distinct  work  in  each  department." 


340  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Until  1900  the  Yale  General  Secretary  was  equally  related 
to  the  Academic  Department  and  Sheffield  Scientific  School, 
but  in  that  year  John  Ferry,  of  1901  S,  became  the  first  Secre- 
tary for  the  Sheffield  students,  and  by  a  gift  from  a  friend 
of  the  work,  a  house  on  College  Street  was  bought  and  for 
several  years  placed  at  the  disposal  of  this  branch  of  the 
Association. 

Sallmon  was  succeeded  for  three  years  by  Henry  B.  Wright 
of  1898.  Dr.  D.  Stuart  Dodge  continued  as  treasurer  until 
1897  and  was  followed  by  Samuel  H.  Fisher  of  New  Haven 
of  the  class  of  1889.  William  Sloane  of  New  York  City  and 
of  the  class  of  1895,  who  was  president  of  the  Association  in 
his  senior  year,  became  a  member  of  the  graduate  committee 
in  1897.  In  1901  he  was  a  member  of  the  International  Com- 
mittee and  yielded  to  a  solicitation  to  which  for  some  years  he 
had  been  subjected,  consenting  to  become  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee, provided  I  would  remain  for  a  season  as  vice-chair- 
man. Until  his  resignation  it  was  a  matter  of  controversy 
between  us,  whether  my  term  of  office  as  vice-chairman  had 
expired !  However  unsettled  this  minor  question  continued, 
Mr.  Sloane  proved  to  be  the  fully  qualified  chairman  the  com- 
mittee needed,  and  continued  in  office,  vigilant  and  efficient, 
until  1915.  The  right  kind  of  laical  succession  now  had  been 
secured  for  chairman  as  well  as  for  the  secretaryship.  In 
1915  Mr.  Sloane  and  Mr.  Fisher  both  resigned  and  were  suc- 
ceeded by  Wm.  E.  S.  Griswold,  1899,  and  Frederick  H.  Wiggin, 
Jr.,  1904. 

A  University  Organization  and  Secretary 

After  the  triennial  term  (1898-1901)  of  Henry  B.  Wright 
of  the  class  of  1898  as  Secretary  had  expired,  he  became  in 
1901  a  member  of  the  faculty,  and  has  ever  since  continued  to 
render  a  service  to  the  Association  and  students  of  Yale  of  a 
value  beyond  all  computation.  In  accord  with  his  wise  sug- 
gestion, the  graduate  committee  and  the  Association  in  1902 
added  to  the  Academic  and  Sheffield  Secretaries  a  University 
Secretary,  to  care  for  all  the  departments.  Richard  H.  Ed- 
wards of  1901  was  the  first  to  hold  this  office. 

Up  to  this  time  the  continuance  in  office  of  any  Secretary 
for  more  than  three  years  had  seemed  inadvisable.     The  ad- 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE         341 

vantage  he  derived  from  having  been  very  recently  in  strong 
and  acceptable  touch  with  undergraduate  life  and  its  per- 
sonalities contributed  to  foster  this  tradition;  but  by  the 
growth  of  a  staff  of  Secretaries,  this  desirable  touch  could 
now  be  maintained  by  the  Department  Secretaries,  and  a 
University'  Secretary  might  be  given  a  longer  term  of  office. 
Such  a  new  departure  was  therefore  decided  upon,  and  Charles 
S.  Campbell  of  the  class  of  1909  was  called  in  1912  and  entered 
upon  his  office  in  the  college  year  1915-1916. 

During  the  fifteen  years  of  my  close  connection  with  the 
calling  and  work  of  the  first  seven  Secretaries,  and  with  their 
successors  ever  since,  the  fellowship  granted  me  for  thirty 
years  with  student  work  and  workers  at  Yale  has  been  among 
the  most  joyful  experiences  of  my  life  work  in  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association. 

The  General  Secretary  at  Yale  has  been  thus  described  in 
"Two  Centuries  of  Christian  Activity  at  Yale" : 

''He  was  not  a  college  pastor,  but  he  brought  the  pulpit 
supply  into  more  congenial  and  pastoral  touch  with  the  stu- 
dents than  had  before  been  realized.  He  was  not  one  of  the 
members  of  the  faculty,  but  he  promoted  a  very  happy  kind 
of  Christian  intercourse  between  them  and  the  students,  com- 
manding the  confidence  of  both.  He  was  not  an  undergraduate, 
but  the  great  majority  of  the  students  had  known  him  in 
recent  years  as  one  of  their  own  number  and  as  one  whose 
Christian  character  commanded  respect.  Having  this  peculiar 
access  to  undergraduate  life,  its  fellowships  and  intimacies,  he 
also  had  more  time  at  his  command  than  his  undergraduate 
fellow  oflScers,  and  could  admirably  organize  and  supplement 
their  efforts.  He  had  thus  served  as  a  happy  medium  of  per- 
sonal Christian  intercourse  between  the  students  and  their 
undergraduate  officers,  and  also  between  the  entire  student 
community  on  the  one  hand  and  the  college  faculty,  church 
and  pulpit  on  the  other.''*^ 

In  a  family  letter  of  March,  1902,  I  find  the  following: 

"In  this  month  I  attended  at  New  Haven  in  the  twentieth 
year  of  the  Yale  Association,  the  first  of  its  annual  meetings 
in  which  each  department  of  the  University — Academic,  Scien- 
tific, Theological,  Law,  Medical,  and  Graduate — was  repre- 
sented by  a  branch  or  organization  of  its  own.  Our  Graduate 
Committee  or  Board  of  Directors,  of  which   I  have  been  a 


*  Wright,  "Two  Centuries  of  Christian  Activity  at  Yale,"  p.  229. 


342  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

member  since  its  formation,  is  now  related  to  this  work  car- 
ried on  in  two  buildings  on  or  near  the  campus,  and  in  a 
third  called  Yale  Hall  for  city  mission  work,  and  a  fourth 
where  boys  are  cared  for  by  the  students." 

The  plan  and  program  of  this  university-wide  development 
of  the  Association  was  the  suggestion  and  work  of  Professor 
Henry  B.  Wright,  then  a  junior  member  of  the  faculty,  and 
it  was  in  the  triennial  period  (1898-1901)  of  Henry  Wright's 
secretaryship  of  this  Student  Association  that  John  R.  Mott 
said: 

"In  Yale  today  is  to  be  found  the  largest  Christian  Student 
Association,  not  only  of  this  country,  but  of  all  the  countries 
of  the  world,  embodying  as  it  does  the  best  attributes  of 
organized  Christian  work  among  students  and  appealing  to 
the  best  elements  in  university  life." 

Fellowship  of  Town  and  Gown  in  New  Haven 

The  following  letter  of  much  more  recent  date,  from  Gen- 
eral Secretary  Judson  J.  McKim  of  the  New  Haven  City  Asso- 
ciation, gives  an  account  of  an  interesting  influence  from  the 
Y'^ale  Association,  and  is  dated  December  16,  1916 : 

"My  dear  Mr.  Morse: 

During  one  of  my  first  interviews  with  you  in  the  beginning 
of  my  work  here  you  expressed  the  hope  that  a  closer  relation- 
ship and  cooperation  could  be  promoted  between  the  Yale  and 
the  City  Associations.  Something  happened  here  last  Wednes- 
day that  I  would  like  to  report  to  you.  It  happened  so 
naturally  that  I  think  no  one  of  our  stafif  took  special  notice 
of  it. 

On  that  evening  Professor  Henry  B.  Wright  was  on  the 
seventh  floor  of  our  building  speaking  to  a  group  of  business 
and  dormitory  men.  On  the  fifth  floor  H.  H,  Vreeland,  Reg- 
istrar of  the  Scientific  Department  of  the  University,  and 
some  years  ago  known  to  you  as  Secretary  of  the  Association 
work  in  that  department,  was  meeting  with  our  Boys'  Secre- 
tary Van  Dis  and  a  group  of  boys'  leaders  from  the  churches 
of  the  city.  On  the  dormitory  floors  Secretary  George  Stewart, 
now  a  successor  of  Mr.  Vreeland  as  Y''ale  Secretary,  was  doing 
personal  work  among  the  dormitory  men;  while  Secretary 
Murray  Chism  of  the  Yale  Academic  from  Dwight  Hall  was 
addressing  a  group  of  Senior  Gymnasium  men  in  the  Gym- 
nasium. 

About  130  Yale  men  are  doing  committee  service  with  our 
Industrial,  Boys'-Work,  and  Physical  Departments.     We  are 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE         343 

also   cooperating  in   a   somewhat   smaller   measure   with   the 
Yale  Christian  Association  in  their  work." 

Yet  more  recently  the  following  letter  was  received  from  the 
New  Haven  City  Association : 

March  1,  1917. 
Dear  Mr.  Morse: 

The  enclosed  pamphlet  tells  how  a  department  of  Yale  Uni- 
versity, the  Yale  School  of  Religion,  is  cooperating  with  the 
New  Haven  City  Association  Training  Center  to  create  a  new 
and  effective  development  in  training  for  the  Association  voca- 
tion. Tribute  has  been  laid  upon  a  great  University  for  help 
in  solving  the  most  difficult  of  all  our  Association  problems. 
This  is  not  an  attempt  to  establish  a  new  training  college.  It 
is  not  the  announcement  of  a  new  financial  burden  to  be  borne 
by  the  brotherhood. 

It  is  simply  the  announcement  of  an  affiliation  of  the  New 
Haven  Youug  Men's  Christian  Association  and  the  Yale  Chris- 
tian Association  with  the  Yale  School  of  Religion  to  meet  the 
peculiar  need  felt  by  men  who  desire  both  an  eastern  Uni- 
versity degree  and  such  Association  courses  of  study  and  train- 
ing as  they  may  be  able  to  secure  while  working  for  this 
degree.  Seven  men  are  enrolled  in  the  course  the  present  year. 
Only  men  doing  postgraduate  work  are  to  be  admitted,  and 
those  who  are  carrying  out  this  program  not  only  hope  to 
interest  some  young  men  toward  the  Association  vocation,  but 
also  they  believe  that  the  simplicity  of  the  scheme  may  be 
suggestive  to  other  Associations  located  in  great  educational 
centers. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Judson  J.  McKim,  General  Secretary. 

John  A.  Van  Dis,  City  Boys'  Work  Secretary. 

Lewis  G.  Bates,  Physical  Director. 

Lyman  T.  Grossman,  Industrial  Secretary. 

Relation  to  Intercollegiate  Work 

In  dealing  with  my  relation  to  Student  Association  Work, 
it  has  seemed  best  to  devote  the  narrative  at  first  to  my  con- 
nection for  many  years  with  the  local  organization  at  Yale 
and  to  the  development  of  its  work  within  the  university. 

From  its  origin  in  1881  the  Yale  Association  began  to  exert 
an  intercollegiate  influence,  and  in  giving  strength  and  im- 
pulse to  the  Student  Association  Movement  it  steadily 
strengthened  its  own  work.  Its  good  building,  its  succession 
of  well  selected   Secretaries,  and  its  growing  committee  or- 


344  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

ganization,  including  oversight  by  its  graduate  committee, 
united  to  keep  it  among  the  stronger  and  more  influential 
Student  Associations. 

As  already  mentioned,  delegates  from  all  the  colleges  of 
New  England  and  from  Princeton  were  invited  to  the  Yale 
campus  one  Sunday  in  February,  1883.^^  On  another  Sunday 
of  this  month,  I  attended  at  West  Point  a  similar  conference 
with  the  cadets  and  students  from  Yale,  Princeton,  and  Cor- 
nell. It  was  a  smaller  gathering,  but  the  same  good  spirit 
prevailed.  On  a  third  Sunday  in  Mount  Vernon,  Ohio,  at  the 
State  Convention  of  the  Associations,  I  met  a  student  delega- 
tion numbering  eighty-three  undergraduates,  from  nearly  all 
of  the  colleges  in  Ohio,  and  a  new  step  of  progress  was  taken 
in  the  student  work  of  that  state. 

Enlistment  of  D.  L.  Moody  in  Student  Work 

After  the  year  1870,  when  Moody  began  to  give  himself 
wholly  to  the  work  of  an  evangelist,  on  both  sides  of  the  At- 
lantic, everywhere  he  showed  himself  to  be,  incidentally  but 
very  effectively,  the  friend  and  promoter  of  the  Associations 
in  their  work.  His  friendly  offices  were  received  and  appre- 
ciated by  them,  chiefly  in  the  larger  cities,  but  with  no  thought 
on  his  part  of  an  active  relation  to  Association  work  in  the 
colleges. 

In  1874,  during  his  first  evangelistic  tour  in  England,  there 
occurred  in  London  a  very  remarkable  conversion  of  the  father 
of  three  sons,  who  became  prominent  students  at  Cambridge 
University.  Each  was  in  turn  the  captain  of  the  university 
cricket  team,  and  the  eldest,  Charles  M.  Studd,  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  All  England  Eleven  with  high  rank  in  that  elect 
group  of  athletes. 

Another  son,  Kynaston  Studd,  was  an  undergraduate  at 
Cambridge  when  Moody  was  in  England  in  1882,  and  under 
his  leadership  a  group  of  Christian  students  persuaded  Moody 
and  Sankey  to  visit  Cambridge.  This  proved  to  be  an  unusual 
tax  upon  the  strength  and  resources  of  the  evangelists,  but  the 
result  was  so  satisfactory  that  a  similar  invitation  from  Ox- 
ford was  received  and  accepted,  with  results  corresponding 
to  those  at  Cambridge.    When  we  became  acquainted  with  the 

'op.  334. 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE         345 

particulars  of  this  experience,  a  desire  was  naturally  awak- 
ened in  Wishard  and  myself  for  the  evangelistic  cooperation 
of  Moody  at  important  student  centers.  We  found  him  in 
doubtful  mind  about  the  wisdom  of  his  entrance  into  the 
student  field. 

Wishard  was  an  undergraduate  at  Princeton  during  a  sea- 
son of  revival  in  the  college  in  the  winter  of  1875-6,  and  during 
that  season.  Moody  was  holding  a  series  of  evangelistic  meet- 
ings in  Philadelphia.  He  spent  a  day  at  Princeton,  making  a 
deep  impression  upon  the  students.  In  1878  he  accepted  an 
invitation  from  five  hundred  Yale  students  and  equally  favor- 
able results  followed.  In  April,  1885,  he  consented  to  go  to 
Princeton  with  us  and  spend  a  Sunday.  He  occupied  the 
chapel  pulpit  and  it  was  a  day  of  profound  religious  interest 
among  the  students.  The  following  Sunday  he  preached  in 
the  Chapel  at  Yale,  in  resjiouse  to  an  invitation  from  President 
Porter.  The  interest  here  awakened  was  even  more  profound 
than  at  Princeton.  An  opportunity  was  offered  the  students 
to  attend  an  evening  meeting  and  at  this  second  meeting  an 
unusual  number  were  present.  At  its  close,  after  an  earnest 
appeal,  most  of  the  students  tarried  for  the  more  personal 
intercourse  of  an  after-meeting. 

I  went  to  Yale  for  this  interesting  day,  with  Henry  Webster, 
a  Princeton  graduate  of  1876,  who  had  served  for  some  years 
as  McBurney's  able  and  devoted  Assistant  Secretary  in  New 
York,  and  was  now  a  member  of  the  International  Committee 
and  Chairman  of  its  Student  Committee.  We  took  part  in 
the  after-meeting,  which  was  attended  by  many  students.  Pro- 
fessor George  P.  Fisher  of  the  Yale  Divinity  School,  and  our 
college  pastor  when  I  was  an  undergraduate,  was  also  with 
us  in  personal  intercourse  with  the  students  who  had  been 
deeply  impressed.     Some  twenty  of  these  students  expressed  i^  ^ 

their  purpose  to  begin   the  Christian   life,   and   Moody   was  \ 

greatly  encouraged  by  the  response  given  to  his  message,  here 
and  later  at  other  colleges.  It  was  during  this  visit  that  he  y\  . 
learned  of  the  intention  of  Wishard,  Ober,  and  myself  to  spend 
some  time  that  summer  in  preparing  a  course  of  Bible  study 
for  the  Student  Associations  and  invited  us  to  come  to  North- 
field  for  this  purpose — an  invitation  the  acceptance  of  which 
by  us  led  to  important  results. 


346  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

After  his  return  in  1875  from  Great  Britain,  Moody  had 
removed  his  residence  from  Chicago  to  his  native  village  of 
Northfield,  Massachusetts,  and  soon  began  to  build  up  his 
seminary  for  girls,  and  later,  on  a  site  four  miles  distant 
across  the  Connecticut  River,  the  Mt.  Hermou  School  for  boys. 
Both  schools  are  now  well  known  round  the  world.  Each  year 
after  his  arduous  evangelistic  work,  the  summer  was  given  to 
the  care  of  the  schools.  Beginning  in  1870  he  also  called  to- 
gether each  summer  a  conference  of  Christian  workers,  of  both 
clergy  and  laity,  for  Bible  study,  prayer,  and  stimulating  dis- 
cussion under  his  strong  leadership. 

I  had  attended  each  of  these  summer  meetings,  when  not 
prevented  by  absence  at  European  Conferences.  My  asso- 
ciates, Wishard  and  Ober,  also  attended  them. 

"In  August,"  a  family  letter  of  the  year  1885  records, 
"I  was  busily  occupied  at  Northfield  almost  the  entire  month. 
For  two  weeks  (5th  to  15th)  we  attended  the  conference 
called  by  Mr.  Moody  and  enjoyed  its  sessions  exceedingly.  Be- 
fore and  after  these  days  I  joined  our  two  college  Secretaries 
in  some  interesting  Bible  study.  We  i)repared  a  schedule  of 
lessons  which  we  hope  will  prove  of  service  in  the  Bible  classes 
of  our  college  and  city  Associations.  We  were  pleasantly 
situated  in  a  small  farmhouse  overlooking  the  valley  of  the 
Connecticut  with  a  wide  view  of  river,  plain,  and  mountain 
ever  before  us.  In  the  foreground  a  Boston  artist  was  en- 
deavoring to  put  on  canvas  what  he  pronounced  the  finest  land- 
scape in  New  England !" 

Our  purpose  was  two-fold,  to  work  out  the  Bible  study 
course  and  to  enlist  Moody's  interest  in  the  enlargement  of 
the  student  staff  of  our  Committee.  There  w^as  urgent  call  for 
Ober  outside  the  Student  Movement.  His  support  as  an  Inter- 
national Secretary  had  not  been  completely  secured  and  I 
shared  heartily  Wishard's  solicitude  that  this  support  should 
be  obtained  in  the  interest  of  the  Student  Work.  Already 
Moody  had  given  practical  help  in  raising  the  fund  needed  and 
an  incident  this  summer  deepened  his  personal  interest  in 
Ober.  Within  a  week  of  the  conference  he  had  suffered  a 
severe  loss  in  the  sudden  breakdown  in  health  of  the  manager 
of  his  school  property.  In  distress  he  informed  us  that  he  felt 
compelled  to  issue  a  notice  calling  off  his  conference.  This 
led  Wishard  to  inform  him  that  Ober  as  an  undergraduate 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE         347 

at  Williams  College  had  for  some  years  managed  efficiently 
the  large  boarding  establishment  of  the  students  and  was 
qualified  to  render  the  help  Moody  now  needed.  This  led  to 
Ober's  undertaking  this  work  at  Northfield  not  only  in  1885, 
but  for  the  next  five  summers,  and  opened  the  path  for  him 
during  many  more  years  to  render  similar  valuable  service  by 
counsel  and  cooperation  in  connection  with  Student  Confer- 
ences in  other  sections  of  the  continent.  In  this  first  instance 
it  was  one  of  the  influences  which  deepened  Moody's  interest 
in  increasing  the  student  staff  of  the  Committee  and  for  some 
years  it  was  owing  to  his  generous  solicitation  of  support  for 
this  staff  that  the  Committee  was  able  to  increase  its  efficiency. 

Kynaston  Studd's  Cooperation  Secured 

At  this  time  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kynaston  Studd  were  guests  at 
Moody's  home.  They  had  come  to  America  on  their  wedding 
tour.  After  graduating  at  Cambridge,  Mr.  Studd  had  become 
associated  with  Quentin  Hogg,  in  the  conduct  of  the  London 
Polytechnic  Institute — founded  and  supported  by  Mr.  Hogg — 
a  work  for  young  men  kindred  in  purpose  and  method  to  our 
Association  work.  One  evening  in  the  Keception  Koom  of 
East  Hall,  Mr.  Studd  gave  a  very  interesting  account  of  the 
remarkable  foreign  missionaiy  interest  awakened  some  years 
before  among  the  students  of  Cambridge,  a  group  of  whom 
known  as  "The  Cambridge  Band"  and  composed  of  prominent 
students  went  out  to  China  as  foreign  missionaries  in  connec- 
tion with  the  China  Inland  Mission.  Among  them  was  Studd's 
older  brother,  Charles  T.  Studd.  Before  leaving  for  the 
foreign  field,  these  students  had  made  a  tour  of  the  British 
universities,  promoting  among  students  an  unusual  interest 
in  foreign  missions.  This  vivid  story  of  effective  appeal  by  a 
band  of  Student  Volunteers  made  upon  both  Wishard  and 
Ober  so  lasting  an  impression  that  a  j'ear  later  it  was  recalled 
and  helped  to  give  shape  to  an  American  Student  Volunteer 
Movement  more  enduring  and  extended  than  that  of  the  Cam- 
bridge Band. 

We  also  listened  to  a  Bible  reading  from  Studd,  who  became 
interested  in  the  Bible  work  in  which  we  were  engaged.  This 
intercourse  led  to  a  proposal,  in  which  Moody  heartily  joined 
us,  that  Studd  should  si)end  as  much  time  as  he  and  Mrs. 


348  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Studd  could  spare  the  following  college  year — 1885-6 — in 
visiting  our  colleges  in  such  a  tour  as  we  could  agree  upon. 
We  asked  him  to  tell  at  each  university  the  foreign  mission 
story,  to  which  we  had  listened,  and  to  give  a  message  on  Bible 
study.  With  the  help  of  Moody  this  arrangement  was  car- 
ried out;  four  months  were  devoted  to  a  work  that  proved 
very  helpful  to  the  students  and  Associations  visited.  In 
eight  states,  twenty-three  colleges  and  schools  were  visited, 
including  Harvard,  Princeton,  Yale — where  Dwight  Hall  was 
dedicated  that  autumn — Williams,  University  of  Virginia, 
Cornell,  and  in  Canada,  McGill  and  Toronto.  He  made  nearly 
one  hundred  addresses  and  gave  many  Bible  readings.  In 
four  states  he  met  with  State  Student  Conferences. 

In  his  report  to  the  Committee  Studd  says:  "The  features 
of  the  work  varied  in  different  places.  In  some  colleges  the 
awakening  in  Bible  study  was  most  prominent,  in  others  the 
quickening  of  Christian  students  to  more  personal  work,  and 
in  others  conversions."  He  adds,  "Your  organization  is  admir- 
able. The  chief  line  on  which  it  needs  awakening  seems  to 
be  personal,  practical  Bible  study.  Your  Bible  training 
classes  are  invaluable,  if  well  looked  after,  and  if  the  plan 
detailed  in  the  'Outline  of  Bible  Study'  (the  pamphlet  we  had 
prepared  in  Northfield)  is  carried  out.  I  am  looking  forward 
to  commencing  such  a  class  with  my  workers  in  London.  I 
cannot  tell  you  what  a  happy  time  those  four  months  were 
which  I  spent  in  this  college  work,  and  how  I  have  thanked 
God  for  the  experience." 

Among  the  many  interesting  testimonies  we  received  con- 
cerning these  visits  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Studd,  was  one  from  a 
college  where  the  impression  they  had  made  resulted,  after 
they  left,  in  a  vigorous  discussion,  in  which  it  was  maintained 
that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Studd  had  presented  to  students  "the  ideal 
of  what  the  marriage  relation  should  be  in  its  best  estate!" 

Beginnings  op  the  Summer  Conferences 

Another  incident  of  our  visit  at  Northfield  that  summer 
seems  worth  recording.  One  afternoon.  Moody  invited  Studd, 
Wishard,  Ober,  and  myself  with  our  wives,  to  visit  Mt.  Her- 
mon  with  him  to  see  the  boys'  school  and  the  new  building, 
the  first  Crossley  Hall,  which  had  just  been  completed.     At 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE         349 

first  we  declined,  under  pressure  of  our  work,  but  he  insisted 
that  we  should  take  a  holiday,  so  we  accepted  the  invitation, 
little  thinking  of  the  long  chain  of  events  of  which  it  was 
a  first  link.  We  went  in  a  large  four-seated  wagon.  Moody 
himself  handled  the  reins  in  his  usual  and  original  manner. 
Most  interesting  was  the  story  he  told  of  his  plan  for  the 
Northfield  and  Mt.  Hermon  schools,  and  what  he  wished  their 
names  to  stand  for,  disclosing  a  purpose  and  plan  now  known 
and  valued  round  the  world.  The  two  bridges  since  built 
across  the  Connecticut  for  the  accommodation  of  the  two 
growing  institutions  did  not  yet  exist,  even  in  the  plan  of  the 
founder;  so  we  crossed  the  river  on  the  old  ferry-boat,  pro- 
pelled by  hand  power,  projected  along  a  heavy  wire  stretched 
over  the  water, 

Moody's  errand  at  Mt.  Hermon  that  day  was  to  give  a  talk 
to  the  boys  on  "How  to  be  a  Good  Public  Speaker,"  a  theme 
of  which  certainly  he  was  master.  He  desired  us  to  visit  the 
grounds  and  buildings  while  he  was  talking  to  the  boys,  but 
we  insisted  on  hearing  the  talk!  It  was  altogether  the  best 
treatment  of  the  subject  to  which  I  ever  listened,  and  came 
from  the  brain  of  a  master  workman,  who  had  been  taught  in 
the  high  school  and  university  of  lifelong  experience.  As  he 
talked  I  was  reminded  of  what  his  aged  mother  had  once  said 
to  me,  in  the  house  where  he  was  born :  "When  Dwight  was 
only  a  little  boy,  he  was  fond  of  going  up  into  the  garret  and 
trying  to  make  a  speech  all  alone !" 

He  had  had  opportunity  to  listen  to  each  of  us  four  older 
boys,  who  were  now  part  of  his  audience,  in  our  attempts  at 
public  discourse,  and  he  had  discerned  in  each  of  us  more 
than  one  fault  calling  for  criticism.  When  he  began  to  speak 
of  faults  which  should  be  avoided  he  selected  one  glaring 
deficiency  in  the  manner  of  each  of  us  four,  as  worthy  of 
special  emphasis.  This  added  greatly  to  the  interest  with 
which  we  followed  the  treatment  of  his  theme,  as  it  very  evi- 
dently added  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  speaker  and  of  our  wives ! 
On  our  way  home  we  openly  raised  the  question  with  him  as 
to  how,  under  the  circumstances,  he  ought  to  be  dealt  with 
by  us  in  a  manner  justified  by  his  conduct.  Quick  as  a  flash 
he  turned  and  said,  "Do  you  fellows  think  1  was  talking  to 
you?    I  was  talking  to  your  wives!" 


350  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

As  we  rode  through  the  woods  behind  the  Mt.  Hermon  build- 
ings our  driver  pointed  out  among  the  trees  a  frame  building, 
and  said,  ''There  is  a  house  which  was  used  by  the  men  who 
put  UY*  Crossley  Hall.  Why  couldn't  you  bring  a  group  of 
Association  Secretaries  up  here  next  summer  to  spend  your 
vacation  time  in  studying  the  Bible  together  as  you  have  been 
doing  this  summer?  I  will  give  them  the  use  of  this  and  other 
buildings  if  they  will  come!"  Without  giving  the  husbands 
a  chance  to  reply,  the  wives  to  whom  he  had  been  "talking"  at 
his  lecture,  with  one  voice  declined  the  invitation  emphati- 
cally, saying  that  when  their  husbands  did  take  a  vacation  they 
were  not  to  take  it  in  company  with  other  Secretaries,  and 
keep  on  with  their  work !  Mr,  Moody  enjoyed  the  answer,  and 
felt  that  he  had  been  justified  in  "talking  to  the  wives."  When 
we  men  were  allowed  to  answer  his  suggestion,  we  told  him 
that  our  Secretaries  had  a  conference  early  every  summer  like 
the  one  he  had  addressed  in  Baltimore  in  1879,  and  that  it 
would  be  difiScult  to  bring  them  here  to  a  second  meeting  of 
the  kind  he  had  suggested.  "But,"  said  Wishard,  "we  might 
bring  college  students."  "Well,"  said  Moody,  "bring  them 
along.  What  I  want  is  to  have  the  buildings  used  to  help  in 
Christian  work  and  Bible  study." 

The  incidents  of  this  afternoon  have  often  been  recalled, 
because  of  this  first  suggestion  of  a  conference,  which  from 
its  beginning  has  not  only  proved  in  itself  an  agency  of  power- 
ful influence  in  promoting  the  Kingdom  and  rule  of  Christ 
among  students  and  through  them  among  all  classes  of  men 
and  women  in  many  nations,  but  also  has  been  the  parent  of  a 
multitude  of  Student  Conferences  now  meeting  on  this  and 
every  continent. 

First  Student  Summer  Conference — 1886 

The  three  International  Secretaries  who  received  this  offer 
from  Moody  were  favorably  impressed  by  it.  Wishard  strongly 
followed  up  the  projjosal,  and  later  in  the  year,  when  Moody 
was  reminded  of  his  offer,  a  more  formal  arrangement  was 
made. 

Moody  issued  the  call  to  the  college  Associations,  now  num- 
bering two  hundred  and  twenty-six  on  the  list  furnished  to 
him  from  the  International  oflBce.     The  International  Secre- 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE    351 

taries  followed  this  irp  by  correspondence  and  visitation. 
Each  Association  was  asked  to  send  at  least  one  delegate,  to 
spend  a  month  at  Mt.  Hernion,  in  July,  188G,  in  order  "to 
studj'  the  Bible  and  methods  of  Christian  work  adapted  to 
college  students." 

This  invitation,  urgently  followed  up,  was  accepted  by  two 
hundred  and  fifty  students  from  ninety  Associations  in  twenty- 
two  States  and  Canada — a  great  advance  certainly  upon  the 
response  by  college  students  to  the  call  inviting  them  to  the 
Louisville  Convention  in  1877. 

These  students  continued  in  session  at  Mt.  Hermon  from 
July  6th  to  August  2nd.  The  largest  delegation — fifteen — 
came  from  Randolph  and  Macon  College,  Virginia;  Williams 
and  Dartmouth  each  sent  thirteen.  x\mong  the  latter  were 
Hans  P.  Andersen  and  Ozora  Davis.  Princeton  and  Cornell 
each  sent  ten.  Among  the  former  was  Robert  P.  Wilder  and 
among  the  latter  John  R.  Mott.  From  Iowa  came  thirteen, 
representing  nine  institutions.  McGill,  Toronto,  and  Queens 
sent  four  students  from  Canada ;  Yale  sent  seven  and  Harvard 
three.  The  delegations  from  Dartmouth,  Williams,  and  Cor- 
nell were  due  to  wise  and  effective  visitation  by  Charles  K. 
Ober.  Of  his  visit  to  Cornell  he  has  written  as  follows:  "To 
one  of  Mr.  Studd's  meetings  during  the  winter  (1885-G)  at 
Cornell  an  influential  but  skeptical  sophomore  by  the  name 
of  John  R.  Mott  was  attracted  out  of  curiosity  to  see  a  British 
university'  man.  The  speaker's  message  was  upon  vital  Chris- 
tianity. It  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  sophomore,  result- 
ing in  his  spiritual  awakening,  and  when  I  visited  Cornell  a 
few  months  later  I  found  him  President  of  the  Cornell  Chris- 
tian Association  and  ready  to  join  me  in  working  up  a  delega- 
tion of  ten  men  including  himself  to  the  student  conference  at 
Mt.  Hermon." 

There  assembled  at  Mt.  Hermon  by  far  the  largest  meeting 
of  College  Association  students  w^hich  had  yet  been  held. 
More  important  than  its  size  was  the  fact  that  the  sessions 
continued  for  twenty-six  days,  growing  steadily  in  interest 
and  in  helpful  influence  upon  the  students.  The  attendance 
and  program  were  part  of  the  fruit  of  ten  years  of  vigorous 
propaganda.  The  movement  already  was  exciting  the  atten- 
tion of  leading  educators.    One  of  these,  Professor  Roswell  D. 


352  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Hitchcock  of  Union  Seminary  in  New  York  City,  recently  had 
said:  "The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is,  today,  the 
great  fact  in  the  religious  life  of  our  colleges."  In  the  retro- 
spect of  these  ten  years,  Wishard  mentions  reports  of  about 
ten  thousand  conversions.  Many  had  graduated  and  had  be- 
come Association  Secretaries — not  as  many  as  we  needed,  but 
many  more  than  would  have  otherwise  come  to  us.  A  much 
larger  number,  like  the  three  leading  young  Directors  of  the 
Chicago  Association,  Houghteling,  McCormick,  and  Farwell, 
had  become  volunteer  Association  officers,  directors,  and  work- 
ers. Also  from  the  foreign  mission  field  already  were  reported 
among  the  fruits  of  this  student  movement  Associations  in 
Jafifna  College,  Ceylon;  in  Tungchow,  Foochow,  and  Peking, 
China;  and  in  Tokyo  and  Osaka,  Japan. 

At  Mt.  Hermon,  every  morning  at  eight  o'clock,  an  hour 
was  devoted  to  a  conversational  discussion  of  some  phase  of 
Student  Association  Work.  The  erection  of  new  buildings  at 
Y^'ale  and  Toronto  was  reported,  and  the  employment  by  these 
two  Associations,  for  the  coming  year,  of  the  only  student 
General  Secretaries  yet  obtained  by  local  college  Associations. 
All  other  phases  of  Student  Work  were  dealt  with.  At  the 
request  of  the  Student  Secretaries,  I  read  a  paper  on  the  whole 
movement  in  North  America  and  the  world,  emphasizing  the 
responsible  relation  to  it  of  the  student  Associations.  Two 
hours  each  day  we  spent  in  hearing  addresses  on  fundamental 
scriptural  truth  and  in  asking  and  answering  questions  in 
relation  to  it. 

The  afternoons  were  free  for  sports  and  exercise,  and  also 
for  invaluable  and  intimate  personal  intercourse  of  students 
with  one  another,  with  the  speakers  to  whose  addresses  they 
had  listened,  and  with  local,  State,  and  International  Secre- 
taries who  were  present,  and  from  whom  they  could  learn  more 
in  detail  about  the  different  phases  of  Association  work.  Be- 
tween thirty  and  forty  students  were  so  deeply  impressed 
with  the  claims  of  Association  work  that  they  began  a  closer 
study  of  it. 

A  significant  greeting  was  sent  from  this  conference.  It 
gave  expression  to  a  strong  intelligent  sympathy  with  the 
Y''oung  Women's  Christian  Associations  whose  delegates  were 
about  to  convene  at  Lake  Geneva,  to  form  a  national  organi- 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE         353 

zation.^^  lu  this  greeting  these  college  men  expressed  their 
confident  belief  that  as  "God  has  blest  the  exclusive  evan- 
gelical work  of  young  men  for  young  men  so  He  will  bless  the 
work  of  young  women  for  young  women." 

This  adjective  "exclusive"  seems  to  hark  back  to  the  work 
of  separation  and  readjustment  in  coeducational  colleges 
which  the  college  Secretaries  had  helped  to  promote.  The 
message  showed  a  brotherly  consciousness  of  the  fact  that  this 
year,  so  memorable  to  the  senders  of  it,  was  also  to  be  signal- 
ized by  a  forward  movement  of  the  college  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations,  There  was  in  the  greeting  also 
promise  of  a  future  fellowship  to  be  ultimately  consummated 
between  these  student  organizations  of  young  men  and  young 
women.  Indeed  one  of  the  nine  students  who  signed  the  greet- 
ing for  the  251  college  delegates  at  Mt.  Hermon  was  John  R. 
Mott,  who  in  due  time,  as  successor  of  Luther  Wishard  and 
Charles  K.  Ober,  was  to  advance  upon  what  they  had  accom- 
plished on  behalf  of  women  students,  by  uniting  university 
young  men  and  young  women  in  the  World's  Student  Chris- 
tian Federation. 12 

The  Conference  as  an  Agency  of  Supervision 

From  the  point  of  view  of  leaders  of  Association  super- 
vision, both  international  and  state,  the  Student  Movement 
had  reached  a  stage  of  development  when  such  an  annual 
meeting  as  was  now  assembled  for  the  first  time  was  impera- 
tively needed.  As  yet  only  two  local  Student  General  Secre- 
taries at  Yale  and  Toronto  had  been  employed,  while  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-six  Associations  had  been  formed.  The 
seventy  Railroad  Associations  were  employing  sixty-one  Secre- 
taries.12  This  contrast  in  the  provision  of  local  secretarial 
leadership  emphasized  the  need  of  an  increased  supervision 
for  the  Student  Work,  which  would  give  such  opportunity  for 


"  In  August,  1886,  this  organization  was  formed  at  Point  Galley,  on  Lake  Geneva. 
M  P.  384 

"  The  following  comparison  of  annual  expenditure  by  the  International  Committee  for 
the  College  ".nd  Railroad  Work  emphasizes  the  need  of  the  former  for  the  reenforcement  given 
by  this  conferential  agency  of  supervision: 

College  Work  for  the  Year  1880   $1,402.00    R.  R.  Work  «3,190.00 

1886   7,114.00  "  3,952.00 

1889   9,600.00  "  7,300.00 

1910  45,818.00  "  32,233.00 

'•  1915  67.222.00  "  31,819.00 


354  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

training  volunteer  student  workers  as  this  conference  fur- 
nished. 

Wishard  had  one  associate  in  Charles  K.  Ober.  But  a  staff 
of  more  than  two  College  Secretaries  was  urgently  needed  and 
was  not  secured  until  some  years  after  this  conference.  When 
Ober  withdrew  in  1891  from  the  college  staff,  Moody  in  the 
conference  of  that  year  strongly  cooperated  in  soliciting  the 
support  of  his  successor,  Fletcher  S.  Brockman.  During  these 
years,  State  Secretaries  were  giving  valuable  help.  But  the 
staff  of  local  undergraduate  officers  and  the  entire  student 
membership  were  very  transitory.  Under  such  conditions,  an 
annual  meeting  of  student  workers  seemed  of  incalculable 
value  as  a  conferential  agency  of  wise  supervision.  Here  could 
come  together  representative  student  leaders,  graduate  and 
undergraduate,  to  meet  one  another  and  the  experts  in  super- 
vision, for  such  instruction,  consultation,  and  conference  as 
would  enable  undergraduates  to  return  to  their  colleges  better 
equipped  for  the  work  in  which  they  were  leaders,  and  with  a 
knowledge  of  methods  which  had  been  tested  in  experience 
elsewhere.  No  event  of  the  ten  years  past  was  more  promising 
in  its  outlook  for  this  work  in  the  years  to  come  than  this  Mt. 
Hermon  Conference.  Its  value  appears  also  in  the  fact  that 
it  became  the  parent  of  similar  conferential  agencies  of  super- 
vision at  the  central  and  far  West,  the  South,  in  Canada,  and 
in  other  lands  throughout  the  world. 

While  the  entire  force  of  the  International  Committee  in  its 
Student  Department,  with  cooperation  from  other  members  of 
that  staff,  were  so  identified  with  this  conference  as  to  be 
essential  both  to  its  conception,  program,  and  administration, 
it  was  not  formally  called  by  the  International  Committee. 
This  was  due  to  the  happ}'^  circumstance  that  Moody  was  the 
host  of  the  conference,  and  his  contribution  as  host  and  his 
relation  to  all  other  meetings  held  in  his  buildings  and  on  the 
grounds  made  him  the  partner,  in  whose  name  the  meeting  was 
called.  He  could  not  have  consented  to  any  other  arrange- 
ment. 

It  was  with  this  in  mind  that  Wishard  in  his  annual  report 
of  1887,  giving  account  of  the  Mt.  Hermon  Conference,  states 
expressly  "that  it  was  not  under  the  auspices  or  control  of 
the  Committee,  which  assumed  no  responsibility  toward  it." 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE         355 

This  statement,  however,  goes  too  far.  The  call  was  not  sent 
out  in  the  name  of  the  Committee,  but  a  real  and  vital  responsi- 
bility was  assumed  by  it  when  its  Secretaries  suggested  the 
meeting,  gave  it  their  essential  cooperation,  and  appealed  to 
all  the  Committee's  college  constituency  to  be  represented. 
All  this  was  done  with  the  sanction  and  full  cooperation  of  the 
sub-committee  on  the  College  Work  and  of  the  General  Secre- 
tary, acting  with  the  Committee's  approval.  Under  the  cir- 
cumstances, the  calling  of  the  conference  could  issue  from  no 
one  but  the  host  of  the  conference.  But  the  essential  partner- 
ship and  responsibility  of  the  Committee  and  its  agents  were 
strongly  pronounced,  and  the  Committee  acted  safely  within 
the  discretion  given  it  by  the  Convention. 

It  is  important  to  give  this  testimony  out  of  an  intimate 
connection  with  the  event,  because  there  has  been  some  quite 
natural  misunderstanding  of  the  meaning  of  the  statement 
which  I  have  quoted  from  Wishard's  report.  Other  expres- 
sions current  at  the  time  were  equally  capable  of  a  misleading 
interpretation. 

Second  Student  Conference — Northfield,  1887 

To  the  Summer  Conference  of  1887,  in  addition  to  over  three 
hundred  students  from  nearly  one  hundred  colleges,  came 
over  one  hundred  City  Association  Secretaries  and  laymen 
specially  invited  by  the  International  Secretaries,  To  this 
conference  also  Dr.  John  A.  Broadus  of  Louisville  gave  stimu- 
lating Bible  instruction.  A  guest  specially  invited  by  Moody 
was  Professor  Henry  Drummond  of  Glasgow,  Scotland.  He 
had  been  one  of  Moody's  strongest  fellow  workers  during  his 
labors  in  Great  Britain.  Drummond  gave  to  the  students  his 
wonderful  message  on  "The  Greatest  Thing  in  the  World," 
as  described  in  I  Cor.  XIII.  He  was  welcomed  with  the  same 
appreciation  he  had  received  from  the  students  of  Scotland 
and  was  urgently  invited  to  visit  the  leading  colleges  repre- 
sented at  Northtield.  All  the  time  he  could  give  during  the 
following  college  year  was  fully  occupied  with  helpful  visits 
to  Harvard,  Princeton,  Yale,  Columbia,  Cornell,  and  other 
colleges.  He  not  only  carried  a  blessing  to  the  students  who 
listened  to  him,  but  he  also  gave  stimulus  to  the  work  of  inter- 
visitation  by  the  Christian  students  of  the  colleges  and  schools. 


356  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

The  Northfield  Student  Conference  of  1888 

During  Wishard's  long  journey  (1888-92)  important  develop- 
ments took  place  in  the  Student  Work.  For  the  preparation 
and  promotion  of  the  third  Student  Summer  Conference  (1888) 
Charles  K.  Ober  was  responsible  and  administered  efficiently 
his  important  trust. 

A  New  International  Secretary 

A  most  interesting  incident  of  the  Northfield  Conference  of 
1888  occurred  at  a  session  in  which  the  students  listened  to 
a  few  speakers  from  among  themselves.  These  had  been  selected 
and  asked  to  tell  of  their  own  convictions  concerning  the  value 
of  the  summer  conference  and  to  give  reasons  for  its  continu- 
ance and  enlargement.  As  the  speaker  who  made  the  deepest 
impression  on  his  fellow  students  was  closing  his  address, 
Moody  turned  to  me  as  we  sat  together  on  the  platform  and 
said :  ''You  ought  to  keep  your  eye  on  that  young  man  !"  "Yes," 
I  replied,  "it  is  because  already  we  are  doing  so  that  he  is 
speaking  here  today." 

The  young  man  was  John  K.  Mott,  who  had  graduated  that 
year  at  Cornell  University.  He  had  become  a  Student  Vol- 
unteer at  Mt.  Hermon  two  years  before  and  was  one  of  the 
four  volunteers  who  were  prevented  from  spending  the  follow- 
ing year  in  the  student  tour  with  Wilder.  But,  with  the  nine 
other  Cornell  delegates  at  Mt.  Hermon,  he  had  returned  to  the 
university  and  under  his  strong  leadership  such  excellent  reli- 
gious work  among  the  students  resulted  that  the  vigilant  at- 
tention of  Charles  Ober  was  attracted  to  it.  Also  as  a  dele- 
gate from  Cornell,  Mott  attended  the  New  York  State  Conven 
tions  in  February,  1886,  1887,  and  1888.  The  meeting  of  1888 
was  held  in  New  York  City  at  a  time  when  the  plans  for 
Wishard's  long  absence  on  his  missionary  world  journey  had 
matured  and  Ober  had  made  up  his  mind  that  Mott  was  the 
strong  student  leader  of  promise  needed  by  the  Committee  as 
his  indispensable  associate  if  he  was  to  undertake  successfully 
the  responsibilities  which  Wishard  had  been  carrying.  Accord- 
ingly at  New  York  in  February,  1888,  in  the  absence  of  Ober 
at  the  West,  Wishard  after  an  evening's  conference  with  Mott 
came  with  him  to  our  office  and  in  an  interview  with  me,  the 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE         357 

proposal  to  join  the  Committee's  college  staff  was  made  to  him, 
the  concurrence  of  the  college  sub-committee — Henry  H.  Web- 
ster and  Cleveland  H.  Dodge — having  been  secured.  Mott  re- 
turned to  Cornell  promising  to  consider  the  call.  Ober  on  his 
return  from  the  West,  learning  that  favorable  response  from 
Mott  had  not  yet  been  received,  went  at  once  to  Cornell  and 
it  was  in  conference  with  him  that  Mott  was  prevailed  upon 
to  accept  '^for  a  year  onlij'  the  position  of  second  College  Secre- 
tary of  the  Committee.  Many  years  afterward  Ober  asked  him, 
"What  if  I  had  insisted  on  a  longer  term  than  only  one  year?" 
"My  repl}',"  he  answered,  "would  have  been  'No.'  "  This  proved 
to  be  an  enlistment  of  the  strongest  of  the  hundred  volunteers 
at  Mt.  Hermon,  who  became  capable  of  giving  a  world  leader- 
ship to  the  world  work  of  which  those  Volunteers  had  caught 
a  vision. 

Later  in  the  conference,  when  Moody  was  asked  by  a  student 
in  the  audience  who  was  the  new  International  Student  Sec- 
retary, at  his  request  Mott  stood  up  and  was  recognized  in  his 
new  position.  Without  knowing  it.  Moody  was  really  intro- 
ducing to  us 'the  man  who  was  to  succeed  him  for  many  years 
as  president  of  the  Northfield  Student  Conference. 

As  a  Student  Volunteer,  detained  at  the  home  base  in  the 
interest  of  the  foreign  missionary  enterprise,  Wishard  had 
w^rought  for  eleven  years  as  a  Student  Secretary  of  the  Com- 
mittee. The  acceptance  for  a  year  of  this  position  gave  Mott 
,  opportunity  to  make  trial  of  what  he  could  accomplish  as 
a  College  Secretary,  in  carrying  out  his  pledge  as  a  Student 
Volunteer.  It  was  the  temporary  and  experimental  feature  of 
the  arrangement  that  at  the  outset  prevailed  with  him,  and 
he  began  his  work  as  the  associate  of  Mr.  Ober  two  months 
after  the  conference  of  1888. 

Yarious  Features  of  the  Conferences 

A  noteworthy  feature  of  the  early  Northfield  delegations 
was  the  presence  of  athletes  of  reputation.  The  sports  in  the 
afternoons  and  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  reenforced  by  the  pres- 
ence of  these  leading  college  athletes,  began  to  give  early  em- 
phasis to  this  desirable  recreative  feature.  No  one  gave  to  it 
more  encouragement  than  did  Moody,  as  the  host  of  the  con- 
ference.    No  New  England  college  athlete  was  better  known 


358  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

or  more  highly  respected  at  that  time  than  Alonzo  A.  Stagg 
of  Yale.  Before  his  graduation  in  1888  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Yale  delegation  at  Northfield,  and  that  summer  he  became 
General  Secretary  in  Dwight  Hall  and  was  the  first  to  hold 
the  office  for  two  years.  His  good  influence  as  a  leader  in 
Christian  work  at  Yale  was  given  an  intercollegiate  extension 
by  his  attendance  at  Northfield,  not  only  as  an  undergraduate 
but  as  an  alumnus.  Later  he  was  a  student  in  the  Physical  De- 
partment of  the  Association  Training  School  (now  a  college) 
at  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  and  was  then  called  by  President 
Harper  of  the  University  of  Chicago  to  be  head  of  the  Physical 
Department  in  that  institution,  where  he  found  his  life  work 
as  an  instructor.  To  boys  he  was  almost  an  object  of  worship. 
I  recall  being  with  him  at  the  Springfield  station  one  day  en 
route  to  Northfield,  when  this  look  of  adoration  appeared  on 
the  face  of  a  small  newsboy.  I  asked  the  little  chap  if  he  knew 
who  the  young  man  was  who  was  stepping  on  the  train.  With 
a  look  of  amazement  he  replied,  "You  bet!  Don't  you  know? 
It's  our  Stagg!"  "Would  you  like  to  shake  hands  with  him?" 
I  asked.  "Come  along!"  So  I  took  him  into  the  train  and 
said — "Stagg,  here's  some  one  who  wants  to  shake  hands  with 
you."  Stagg  instantly  responded  and  his  manner  was  as  genial 
and  friendly  as  if  he  had  been  speaking  to  some  fellow  athlete. 
He  was  preeminent  in  attractive  approach  to  men  individually. 
Once  in  calling  on  me  with  a  report  of  progress,  he  brought 
with  him  a  long  list  of  names  of  fellow  students,  in  whom  he 
and  his  associates  had  been  especially  interested.  Opposite 
some  of  the  names  were  written  the  letters  O.  O.  I  asked  their 
meaning  and  he  said,  "Why,  that  means  that  those  men  are 
out  and  out  for  Christ !"    And  N.  G.  stood  for  "no  good." 

He  was  representative  of  a  group  of  strong  men  of  fine 
athletic  and  Christian  repute,  who  were  active  in  both  local 
and  International  Student  Work.  Their  presence,  fellowship, 
and  cooperation  were  very  helpful  to  the  Student  Movement. 

Some  account  has  been  given  of  attendance  upon  the  first 
three  Student  Conferences  (188G,  1887,  and  1888).  Of  the  first 
twenty  I  was  absent  from  only  one,  and  for  most  of  this  period 
my  presence  among  the  leaders  was  deemed  of  importance. 
Association  appointments  in  Europe  were  arranged  for  me  so 
as  to  provide  for  such  attendance. 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE         359 

At  one  of  these  conferences  during  their  first  decade  Dr. 
Faunce  as  a  speaker  chose  as  his  theme — without  any  previous 
announcement  of  it — ''The  Three  Great  Evangelists  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century."  He  described  them  as  differing  from  one 
another  in  many  respects,  but  as  resembling  each  other  in  this 
— that  each  in  later  life  felt  strongly  impelled  to  emphasize 
his  conviction  of  the  importance  of  education  and  the  edu- 
cational institution.  Charles  Finney  had  left  as  his  memorial 
Oberlin  University ;  Charles  Spurgeon  the  institutions  he 
founded  in  Loudon ;  and  we  were  now  met,  students  from  a 
hundred  academies  and  colleges,  as  guests  of  the  greatest  of 
these  evangelists  upon  the  grounds  of  the  seminaries  he  had 
founded  and  was  fostering  for  the  education  of  our  youth.  It 
was  an  interesting  and  impressive  address,  listened  to  by  a 
very  responsive  and  appreciative  audience. 

At  its  close  an  errand  of  importance  caused  me  to  seek  Moody 
at  his  home.  The  door  was  open  and  I  passed  from  the  hall 
into  his  study  without  ceremony.  I  was  at  once  aware  that 
I  had  intruded  upon  a  conversation  between  Mrs.  Moody  and 
himself.  Both  assured  me  I  was  welcome  and  Mrs.  Moody, 
referring  to  what  was  giving  evident  concern  to  both  of  them, 
asked :  "Mr.  Morse,  do  you  think  any  one  would  get  the  im- 
pression that  we  had  had  anything  to  do  with  Dr.  Faunce's 
choice  and  treatment  of  the  subject  upon  which  he  spoke  to- 
night?" I  gave  every  assurance  I  could  that  no  such  thought 
was  likely  to  enter  the  mind  of  any  listener  and  that  what 
had  been  said  seemed  to  me  most  fitting  and  interesting. 

In  the  fifteenth  year  of  these  conferences  one  of  the  dele- 
gates who  had  come  first  as  an  undergraduate  and  then  as  a 
beloved  leader  and  teacher.  Professor  Henry  B.  Wright  of  the 
Yale  Class  of  1898  and  for  three  years  (1898-1901)  General 
Secretary  of  the  Yale  Association,  thus  describes  some  of  their 
interesting  features  :^^ 

"As  we  near  the  ground  (at  Northfield),  every  spot  has  some 
bit  of  interest  to  the  newcomer  or  awakens  fond  memories  in 
the  veteran  of  past  conferences.  Round  Top  and  Senior  Glen 
recall  those  informal  hours  in  the  early  morning  or  on  a  Sun- 
day afternoon,  when  the  great  Evangelist,  seated  in  his  big 
armchair  beneath  the  trees,  answered  iuformallv  the  number 


"  "Two  Centuries  of  Christian  Activity  at  Yale,"  pp.  242-245. 


360  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

less  questions  of  life  and  practice  raised  by  the  eager  inquirers 
who  sat  at  his  feet.  Stone  Hall,  made  memorable  by  the 
first  of  the  great  addresses  of  Henry  Drummond  upon  *The 
Greatest  Thing  in  the  World/  which  awoke  the  college  world 
of  America  in  1887,  stands  near  the  center  of  the  ground,  while 
behind  rise  those  quiet  Northfield  hills  with  their  undisturbed 
retreats  in  which  many  a  man  has  wrestled  out  alone  his  life 
problems  and  gone  forth  to  a  career  of  usefulness. 

Or  perhaps  one  reaches  the  Conference  a  few  days  after  the 
sessions  have  already  begun.  .  .  .  The  buildings  rise  all  about 
bright  with  college  flags  and  colors,  while  far  above  and  crown- 
ing all,  from  the  top  of  the  great  auditorium  floats  the  Stars 
and  Stripes.  .  .  .  From  Marquand  Hall  down  in  the  valley 
a  college  song  is  borne  on  the  breeze  and  when  it  dies  away 
a  sharp  and  stirring  college  cheer  from  another  direction 
announces  the  arrival  of  some  belated  delegate  to  the  confer- 
ence. 

After  a  while  a  convent  bell  of  unusual  sweetness  begins  to 
toll  from  the  tower  of  East  Hall  and  instantly  the  songs  and 
fun  of  the  afternoon  cease  and  little  groups  of  men  with  their 
coats  on  their  arms  pass  over  through  a  field  of  standing  grain 
to  Round  Top,  a  small  knoll  directly  back  of  Mr.  Moody's 
house.  Here,  in  the  calm  of  the  gathering  twilight  as  the  sun 
goes  down  in  red  and  gold  behind  the  hills,  leaving  the  still 
waters  of  the  Connecticut  all  aflame  in  the  valley  below,  some 
man  well  known  in  the  outside  world  talks  frankly  and  fairly 
on  the  choice  of  a  life  work.   .    .    . 

Amid  such  scenes  and  associations  for  fifteen  years  college 
students  have  gathered  from  all  over  the  land  ...  to  dis- 
cuss methods  and  to  receive  an  inspiration  for  efficient  Chris- 
tian work." 

The  Succession  of  International  Student  Secretaries, 

To  Wishard  and  Ober  as  chief  Student  Secretaries,  Mott 
succeeded  in  1890.  Already  he  was  chairman  of  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement.  Upon  Wishard's  withdrawal  in  1898, 
he  became  chief  Secretary  of  the  Committee's  Foreign  Work. 
In  each  of  these  offices,  upon  the  elect  junior  Secretaries  whom 
he  was  diligently  calling  to  his  aid,  he  placed  every  responsi- 
bility they  were  fit  to  carry.  He  knew  how  to  depute  wisely 
and  therefore  safely.  He  parted  with  leadership  gradually, 
as  his  own  responsibilities  and  fellow  workers  multiplied.  After 
he  undertook  the  Associate  General  Secretaryship  in  1901, 
according  to  the  arrangement  he  had  entered  into,  Edward  C. 
Carter,  our  efficient  chief  Secretary  in  India,  was  called  to  the 


STUDENT  WORK— LOCAL  AND  INTERCOLLEGIATE         361 

home  field  to  become  chief  Student  Secretary  in  1907  and  in 
1912  Charles  D,  Hurrey,  equally  acceptable  as  chief  Secretary 
in  South  America,  succeeded  Carter.  When  Hurrey  withdrew 
in  1915  to  undertake  a  new  work  in  the  service  of  students, 
David  R.  Porter,  already  for  many  years  a  very  efficient  mem- 
ber of  the  Committee's  staff  in  its  work  not  only  for  students 
but  also  for  boys  in  the  City  Work  and  in  preparatory  and  high 
schools,  undertook  most  acceptably  the  leadership  of  the  Stu- 
dent Work.  As  these  Secretaries  succeeded  one  another,  they 
resisted  more  and  more  successfully  the  tendency  and  disposi- 
tion to  lean  on  Secretary  Mott. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  OUTREACH  TO  OTHER  LANDS 

The  Mt.  Hermon  Conference  had  an  invaluable  relation  to 
the  eflSciency  of  Student  Association  Work.  But  it  has  been 
more  widely  and  conspicuously  known  in  its  relation  to  the 
origin  and  growth  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  for 
Foreign  Missions,  the  Foreign  Work  of  the  North  American 
Associations,  and  the  World's  Student  Christian  Federation. 

The  Student  Volunteer  Movement 

From  the  beginning  of  its  sessions  the  interest  in  work  on 
the  foreign  field  grew  steadily,  owing  to  the  prayerful  and 
faithful  earnestness  of  Robert  P.  Wilder.  Before  coming  to 
Mt.  Hermon  he  and  thirteen  of  the  delegates  either  had  de- 
cided to  go  or  were  seriously  thinking  of  going  as  missionaries 
to  the  foreign  field.  For  months  Wilder  and  his  sister  had 
been  praying  that  more  students  might  be  made  willing  to  go 
to  that  field  as  missionaries.  The  opportunity  at  Mt.  Hermon 
to  enlist  such  students  he  had  accepted  as  an  answer  to  these 
united  prayers,  and  as  he  improved  it  at  the  conference  he  felt 
sustained  and  prospered  by  the  continued  prayers  of  the  sister 
at  home.  Every  evening  the  baud  of  volunteers  met  for  prayer 
under  his  leadership.  Soon  all  who  were  thinking  seriously 
on  the  subject  were  called  together  and  twenty-one  signed  the 
declaration  to  go  which  had  been  adopted  in  1883  by  the 
Students'  Foreign  Missionary  Society  at  Princeton.  As  the 
days  and  weeks  of  the  conference  passed,  the  volume  of  interest 
increased  until  the  number  of  students  who  had  decided  to 
sign  was  increased  to  one  hundred. 

The  year  before  this  Secretaries  Wishard  and  Ober  had  been 
deeply  impressed  by  the  experience  of  "the  Cambridge  Band" 
as  Studd  had  described  it  to  us.  Two  days  before  the  final 
meeting,  during  a  tramp  over  the  hills  near  the  Vermont 
border  with  a  few  of  the  leaders  among  the  volunteers,  all 
agreed  that  the  message  to  which  they  had  responded  ought 

362 


THE  OUTREACH  TO  OTHER  LANDS  363 

to  be  carried  to  the  multitude  of  their  fellow  students  who 
had  not  heard  it.  Ober,  recalling  the  experience  of  the  Cam- 
bridge Band,  suggested  to  Wilder  and  his  associates  a  similar 
tour  of  the  American  colleges  by  a  band  chosen  from  these 
volunteers.  To  select  the  visiting  deputation,  to  secure  the 
money  needed,  and  to  arrange  for  the  visits  by  correspondence 
seemed  practicable.  For  the  deputation  four  were  selected: 
Robert  P.  Wilder  of  Princeton,  John  R.  Mott  of  Cornell, 
William  V.  Taylor  of  Yale,  and  L.  M.  Riley  of  De  Pauw.  These 
were  chosen  at  the  suggestion  of  Secretary  Ober  by  a  committee 
appointed  in  a  conference  of  the  leaders.  Toward  securing 
the  fund  needed  a  telegram  was  sent  bj^  Wishard  to  a  life-long 
friend  and  layman  leader  in  Association  work,  Daniel  W. 
McWilliams  of  Brooklyn,  asking  for  an  interview  with  him 
in  the  near  future.  The  reply  to  this  telegram  appeared  in  the 
person  of  this  friend,  tried  and  true,  who  came  to  Mt.  Hermon 
for  the  closing  Saturday  and  Sunday  of  the  conference,  entered 
fully  into  the  plan  proposed  and  offered  the  fund  needed,  pro- 
vided the  tour  was  undertaken  in  connection  with  our  college 
department  and  under  supervision  of  our  College  Secretaries. 

I  was  disappointed  in  not  being  able  to  remain  for  the  entire 
conference,  owing  to  a  double  call  from  abroad  to  attend  at 
Geneva  a  *'Plenar"  or  full  meeting  of  the  World's  Committee 
and  in  Paris  to  perform  another  errand^  which  resulted  in 
Association  propaganda  and  missionary  effort  in  Europe.  The 
urgency  of  this  call  made  it  necessary  for  me  to  leave  Mt. 
Hermon  with  Mrs.  Morse  at  the  end  of  the  first  w^eek  of  the 
sessions. 

On  my  return  in  September,  Wishard  and  Ober  promptly 
reported  to  me  the  extraordinary  missionary  interest  at  Mt. 
Hermon  which  was  finally  to  result  in  the  Student  Volunteer 
Movement.  The  situation  as  they  described  it  at  that  time 
seemed  a  very  critical  one.  For  of  the  visiting  band  of  four 
Student  Volunteers  three,  greatly  to  their  own  disappointment, 
had  found  that  it  was  not  in  their  power  to  carry  out  this  plan. 
Only  Robert  P.  Wilder,  the  promoter  and  leader  at  Mt.  Her- 
mon, was  now  able  and  ready  to  enter  upon  the  proposed  cam- 
paign. I  heartily  sympathized  with  the  solicitude  expressed 
by  the  two  College  Secretaries  and  which  chiefly  related  to : 

1  Pp.  232-6. 


364  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

first,  securing  substitutes  for  the,  three  who  could  not  go  with 
Wilder  and,  second,  keei)ing  this  movement  in  vital  connection 
with  the  local  Student  Associations  as  part  of  their  work, 
giving  of  its  spiritual  life  to  that  work,  and  receiving  in  turn 
reciprocal  benefit.  There  existed  in  the  beginning,  so  they 
reported,  some  tendency  to  make  a  separate  organization  of 
this  movement  in  each  college,  a  tendency  which  we  felt  should 
be  discouraged.  I  also  consented  to  act  as  treasurer  of  the 
special  fund  needed,  according  to  the  wish  of  its  donor. 

The  First  Student  Volunteer  Tour 

As  an  associate  of  Wilder,  John  N,  Forman,  a  graduate  of 
Princeton  who  had  not  been  at  Mt.  Hermon  but  who  was  a 
student  volunteer,  was  ready  to  go  and  was  gladly  accepted. 
At  its  next  meeting  the  college  sub-committee,  Henry  H.  Web- 
ster and  Cleveland  H.  Dodge,  agreed  to  this  program  and  the 
Student  Secretaries,  Wishard  and  Ober,  undertook  the  direc- 
tion and  arrangement  of  their  visits  among  the  colleges.  The 
marvellous  response  in  college  after  college  to  the  appeals  of 
these  two  missioners  exceeded  all  expectation.  In  the  spring 
of  1887  before  the  second  Student  Conference  met  in  Northfield 
"2,100  students — 1,600  young  men  and  500  young  women" — 
were  reported  to  have  signed  the  volunteer  pledge  and  the 
venerable  Dr.  James  McCosh,  President  of  Princeton  College, 
impressively  asked :  "Has  any  such  offering  of  living  young 
men  and  women  been  presented  in  our  age?  in  our  country? 
in  any  age  or  country  since  the  day  of  Pentecost?" 

Outside  the  student  realm,  in  the  City  Association  Move- 
ment some  missionary  impression  and  impulse  were  received. 
While  Wilder  was  in  Minneapolis  he  improved  an  opportunity 
to  meet  a  group  of  the  City  Association  members.  In  response 
to  his  appeal  for  the  young  men  of  non-Christian  lands  a  fund 
was  raised  amounting  to  about  |1,000,  and  was  placed  in  a 
bank  awaiting  opportunity  for  its  wise  expenditure.  Soon 
after  .(Oct.  27-30)  the  Minnesota  Convention  met  and  when  this 
fund  was  reported,  in  accord  with  the  counsel  of  Secretary 
Ober  who  was  present,  it  was  voted  to  hold  this  as  a  fund  for 
the  support  of  the  first  Foreign  Secretary  who  should  be  sent 
out  by  the  North  American  Associations,  but  whose  mission 
was  not  authorized  until  nearly  two  years  later. 


Richard  C.  Morse  ix  1886 


THE  OUTREACH  TO  OTHER  LANDS  365 

In  Pittsburgh  Wilder's  message  so  deeply  impressed  its 
General  Secretary,  Robert  A.  Oit,  one  of  the  strongest  leaders 
among  City  Association  Secretaries,  that  he  wrote  for  TJw 
Watchman,  then  the  periodical  of  the  North  American  Asso- 
ciations (April,  1887)  an  article  suggesting  ''An  investigation 
by  the  International  Committee  to  discover  whether  in  Cal- 
cutta, Canton,  and  other  cities  of  heathendom  there  is  a  field 
for  Association  work  on  the  model  of  our  city  Associations, 
and,  if  there  is,  that  to  one  of  these  cities  a  first-class  Secretary 
be  sent  supported  by  us  through  a  collection  taken  upon  a 
missionary  day.  Can  we  not  do  something  to  show  the  young 
men  who  are  so  far  away  from  us  that  we  are  anxious  in  the 
spirit  of  our  Lord  to  bring  them  into  His  fellowship  and  serv- 
ice? I  have  no  plan.  I  simply  record  my  conviction.  Some 
other  man  may  have  a  plan."  Such  a  plan  was  certainly  ma- 
turing at  the  time  these  words  were  written.  Two  months  after 
Robert  Orr's  letter  was  printed,  the  second  Student  Conference 
met  on  the  better  equipped  Northfield  campus,  where  the 
annual  sessions  have  ever  since  been  continued. 

Through  the  agency  of  Moody  a  message  of  historic  interest 
was  brought  to  this  conference  by  two  missionaries — Dr.  Jacob 
S.  Chamberlain,  a  veteran  of  many  years  in  India,  and  Rev. 
George  W.  Chamberlain  of  Brazil,  one  of  my  classmates  at 
Princeton  Seminary.  The  former  made  an  appeal  of  unusual 
urgency,  asserting  that  the  time  was  ripe  in  India  for  a  travel- 
ing Association  Secretary  and  for  several  local  Secretaries  in 
the  principal  cities.  This  appeal  was  seconded  and  confirmed 
as  to  Brazil  by  George  Chamberlain.  These  messages  strength- 
ened Wishard  in  a  purpose  he  was  forming,  as  a  faithful  Stu- 
dent Volunteer,  to  undertake  a  thorough  visitation  of  the  mis- 
sionary colleges  and  city  centers  of  Asia,  if  a  sufficient  fund 
could  be  secured  to  provide  for  an  extended  tour  which  might 
be  prolonged  for  several  years.  As  early  as  1878  in  the  second 
year  of  his  work  he  had  heard  a  call  from  Japanese  students 
organized  ''as  Believers  in  Jesus"  at  an  agricultural  college 
in  that  country.  A  few  years  later,  before  Frank  K.  Sanders 
and  Harlan  P.  Beach  set  out  on  missionary  errands  for  India 
and  China,  he  was  in  communication  with  them  about  the 
Student  Association  Work  which  they  initiated  in  both  those 
countries. 


366  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Opportunities  in  Japan 

In  the  year  before  the  Mt.  Hermon  Conference,  and  in  ad- 
dition to  calls  that  came  to  Wishard  from  colleges  on  the  for- 
eign field,  an  appeal  had  come  to  me  from  Osaka,  Japan.  In 
this  second  city  of  that  empire,  a  band  of  Christian  young 
men  had  been  led  to  organize  a  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation. In  a  communication  strongly  endor.sed  by  the  mission- 
aries, they  sent  to  our  Committee  in  New  York  and  also  to  the 
London  Association  a  request  for  |1,500  from  friends  in  each 
of  these  two  cities.  A  similar  request  for  help  was  sent  to 
Australia.  With  these  gifts  they  desired  to  secure  an  Asso- 
ciation building  and  equipment.  Word  came  to  me  from  Lon- 
don that  a  favorable  response  would  be  sent  from  there  if  we 
also  would  respond  favorably.  From  a  few  friends  I  secured 
the  sum  needed,  while  from  Australia  as  well  as  from  London 
similar  help  was  sent  to  Osaka.  Soon  after  one  of  the  Amer- 
ican donors,  Elbert  B.  Monroe,  was  making  a  layman's  mis- 
sionary journey  around  the  world  and  arrived  at  Osaka,  toward 
the  close  of  that  year  1885.  On  examining  the  situation  he 
added  |1,000  to  what  he  had  already  given.  During  the  fol- 
lowing year,  while  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  was  be- 
ginning at  Mt.  Hermon,  the  Osaka  building  was  completed  and 
dedicated.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  provision  for  city  Asso- 
ciation work  in  Japan — a  beginning  which  could  be  followed  up 
eflSciently  only  by  men  from  America,  qualified  to  lead  in  the 
development  of  well  organized  Association  work.  One  Amer- 
ican Secretary,  Charles  K.  Ober,  at  this  very  time  saw  so  clearly 
this  need  in  Osaka  of  an  Association  Secretary  that  he  decided 
to  go  if  the  jiath  was  opened  to  him.  In  such  event  he  would 
have  reached  Asia  in  1887  as  our  first  Foreign  Work  Secre- 
tary. Secretary  Orr's  suggestion  in  The  Watchman  of  April, 
1887,  was  seen  by  Ober  and  was  recognized  by  him  as  in  line 
with  what  he  desired  to  accomplish  in  Osaka,  but  providential 
developments  at  this  time  claimed  his  missionary  service  at 
the  home  base.  Thus  the  urgent  call  for  Association  work  had 
come  from  two  widely  separated  parts  of  non-Christian  lands 
and  from  the  representatives  of  the  churches  in  that  broad  and 
needy  field.  The  beginning  of  a  favorable  response  was  also 
discernible. 


THE  OUTREACH  TO  OTHER  LANDS  367 

To  this  second  Student  Conference  came  still  another  sig- 
nificant appeal,  also  through  Moody.  The  Japanese  govern- 
ment schools  desired  teachers  of  English.  The  favorable  reply 
we  already  had  sent  to  the  request  from  Osaka  suggested  to 
them  asking  our  help  in  meeting  this  need  also.  The  teachers 
could  give  the  instruction  desired  without  knowledge  of  the 
Japanese  language.  Outside  of  school  hours,  they  would  be  at 
liberty  to  teach  the  Bible  to  any  pupils  who  might  desire  such 
instruction.  There  was  no  provision  for  traveling  expenses, 
but  the  salary  offered  would  enable  a  teacher,  in  due  time,  to 
repay  any  advance  on  the  cost  of  his  journey. 

This  opportunity  appealed  to  students  who  were  glad  to 
make  trial  of  the  foreign  field  before  committing  themselves 
to  it  for  life.  A  Yale  graduate  at  the  conference,  John  Trum- 
bull Swift,  who  was  Secretary  of  the  Association  in  Orange, 
N.  J.,  was  led  to  consider  this  call  favorably,  as  did  several 
others.  It  was  proposed  to  form  a  "Foreign  Education  Com- 
mittee," to  promote  desirable  responses  to  this  opportunity. 
Of  this  committee  Elbert  B.  Monroe  consented  to  be  chairman 
if  I  would  act  as  executive  secretary.  We  then  enlisted  four 
Secretaries  of  four  foreign  mission  Boards  to  serve  on  the  com- 
mittee. It  was  a  new  phase  of  union  foreign  mission  effort  pro- 
moted by  Association  workers.  Mr.  Swift  was  the  first  of 
thirteen  teachers  sent  out  by  this  committee.^  The  chairman 
advanced  the  traveling  expenses  of  the  first  teacher  as  a  first 
contribution  to  the  fund. 

In  his  desire  to  go  to  ^Tapan  the  purpose  of  Swift  was  to 
devote  all  his  leisure  time  to  such  Bible  teaching  and  Associa- 
tion work  for  young  men  as  he  found  practicable — a  purpose 
which  led  to  his  eventually  becoming  the  first  American  Asso- 
ciation Secretary  sent  to  Asia. 

The  International  Committee  had  not  as  yet  received  any  in- 
struction from  the  International  Convention  to  establish  Asso- 
ciation work  in  foreign  lands.  But  from  time  to  time  cor- 
responding members  of  the  Committee,  all  of  whom  were  volun- 
teer workers,  had  been  appointed  on  the  foreign  as  well  as  on 

2  Later  this  committee  passed  the  work  over  to  the  Foreign  Department  of  the  Inter- 
national Committee.  Out  of  it  has  grown  an  organization  in  Japan  (1)  holding  an  annual 
conference  on  the  teaching  of  EngMsh  and  (2)  publishing  an  English  Teachers'  Magazine. 
In  1912  the  number  of  these  "Association  Teachers"  as  they  are  called,  was  111  in  sixty  schools 
located  in  thirty  cities.  About  twenty  per  cent  have  entered  foreign  missionary  service  and 
ten  per  cent  the  Association  secretaryship.  One  teacher  founded  a  mission  so  successful 
that  it  has  undertaken  to  evangeUze  the  province  in  which  it  is  located. 


368  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

the  home  field.  As  early  as  1877  such  a  member  had  been  ap- 
pointed for  Australia ;  in  1879  others  for  Japan  and  Syria,  and 
in  following  years  for  Germany,  Great  Britain,  the  Hawaiian 
Islands,  and  Asia.  Some  of  these  were  American  missionaries, 
and  in  1887  the  corresponding  member  for  Japan  was  Kev. 
James  Ballagh. 

Soon  after  the  North  field  Conference  of  1887,  the  Foreign 
Education  Committee  was  formed,  and  under  its  auspices  Swift 
went  to  Japan  in  January,  1888,  and  found  at  once  a  position 
as  teacher  in  Tokyo.  During  that  year  he  was  able  to  form  a 
Student  Association  in  the  Imperial  University,  and  to 
strengthen  the  City  Association.  Owing  to  what  Swift  was 
accomplishing,  Ballagh  resigned  in  his  favor  as  corresponding 
member,  and  Swift  was  appointed  in  his  place  and  thus  came 
into  a  direct  relation  to  the  International  Committee. 

Such  opportunities  for  Association  work  were  opened  to  him 
during  this  first  year,  that  it  was  not  difficult  to  obtain  from 
friends  in  New  York  what  was  needed  to  enable  him  to  give 
his  entire  time  to  Association  work  for  young  men.  At  the 
request  of  friends  supporting  him,  the  money  was  forwarded 
to  him  as  a  corresponding  member  of  the  Committee,  by  its 
Treasurer,  pending  such  action  as  might  be  taken  by  the  next 
International  Convention  in  reference  to  his  becoming  an  em- 
ployed ofiicer  of  the  Committee  on  the  foreign  field. 

Consultation  with  Church  Foreign  Mission   Boards 

Meanwhile,  the  question  of  the  employment  of  Secretaries 
on  that  field  was  carefully  considered  by  the  Committee.  In 
consultation  with  Dr.  Chamberlain  about  his  urgent  appeal, 
McBurney  and  I  explained  to  him  the  relation  and  attitude  of 
the  Associations  to  the  churches.  Such  a  new  departure  could 
not  be  undertaken  successfully  unless  we  were  acting  with 
the  hearty  approval  of  the  representatives  of  the  churches  on 
the  foreign  field,  and  also  of  the  Boards  of  these  churches  at 
the  home  base.  He  heartily  agreed  and  offered  to  cooperate 
with  us  in  consulting  with  the  Secretaries  of  these  Boards. 

Already  in  forming  the  Foreign  Education  Committee,  I  was 
coming  into  fellowship  with  Secretaries  of  the  American  Board, 
the  Presbyterian,  the  Reformed,  and  the  Methodist  Boards. 
The  veteran  Secretary  of  the  Baptist  Board,  Dr.  Ashmore,  was 


THE  OUTREACH  TO  OTHER  LANDS  86d 

also  actively  in  sympathy  with  our  summons  to  the  foreign 
mission  field.  Monroe  and  McBurney  joined  me  in  making  a 
thorough  consultation  and  in  discovering  a  strong  feeling  favor- 
able to  our  undertaking  Association  work,  in  response  to 
definite  calls  for  it  from  the  field. 

Dr.  Chamberlain  returned  to  India  toward  the  close  of  1887, 
with  his  son  William  I.  Chamberlain,  who  was  a  member  of 
the  Brooklyn  Association,  and  who,  before  going  out  with  his 
father,  accepted  an  appointment  as  corresponding  member  of 
the  International  Committee  for  India.  Immediately  on  his 
arrival  the  subject  of  the  appeal  made  at  the  Northfield  Con- 
ference was  brought  by  him  to  the  attention  of  the  missionaries 
from  all  denominations  and  countries  working  in  Madras  and 
its  vicinity,  and  early  in  1888  a  formal  request  was  sent  to  the 
International  Committee,  signed  by  these  missionaries,  asking 
for  an  experienced  Association  Secretary  to  organize  work 
for  young  men  in  India. 

Wishard's  World  Tour— 1888-92 

During  the  year  following  the  Northfield  Conference  of  1887, 
Wishard's  plans  also  were  rapidly  matured  for  a  missionary 
tour  of  several  years.  Charles  K.  Ober  had  developed  fine 
capacity  to  be  his  successor.  The  fund  needed  for  Wishard's 
entire  support  during  a  long  and  expensive  journey  of  several 
years  was  secured  from  a  few  donors  in  a  canvass  in  which  I 
was  glad  to  cooperate.  Of  this  fund  I  became  treasurer  and 
collector  from  year  to  year  during  his  absence.  In  obtaining 
it  Wishard  developed  a  faculty  and  capacity  heretofore  un- 
exercised, which  gave  promise  of  his  success  in  gaining  support 
for  the  surely  coming  department  of  the  International  Com- 
mittee's work  on  the  foreign  field,  including  a  growing  stafif  of 
Secretaries  for  that  field. 

As  these  conditions  favorable  to  Wishard's  undertaking  de- 
veloped, the  Committee  granted  him  leave  of  absence,  appoint- 
ing C.  K.  Ober  as  his  successor.  Without  instructions  from 
the  International  Convention  authorizing  this  work  on  the 
foreign  field  the  Committee  did  not  feel  justified  in  sending 
Wishard  beyond  North  America  as  its  Secretary ;  but  as  Amer- 
ican member  of  the  World's  Committee  at  Geneva  I  learned 
that  that  Committee  was  solicitous  to  undertake  this  extension 


370  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

of  Association  work  to  non-Christian  lands,  though  without 
funds  or  an  agent  for  the  purpose.  At  my  suggestion  Wishard 
was  cordially  accejjted  by  them  as  their  Secretary  for  the  work 
of  this  tour,  provided  no  expense  to  them  was  involved. 

These  arrangements  and  adjustments  were  completed  as 
early  as  March,  1888,  and  the  fund  provided  for  Wishard  was 
ample  enough  for  him  to  spend  the  next  five  months  in  Europe, 
securing  the  intelligent  sympathy  of  the  World's  Committee, 
the  World's  Conference  of  1888,  and  students  at  the  universities, 
where  he  could  obtain  a  hearing  about  the  errand  he  was  under- 
taking for  students  and  other  young  men  in  Asia. 

Late  in  the  summer  after  attending  the  Northfield  Confer- 
ence of  1888,  I  met  Wishard  at  the  World's  Conference  in  Stock- 
holm, and  joined  him  in  presenting  to  the  delegates  from  fifteen 
countries  his  errand  to  the  young  men  of  less  favored  nations. 
The  action  of  the  World's  Committee  asking  him  to  serve  on 
this  tour  as  their  Secretary,  was  heartily  endorsed.  Before 
setting  out  on  this  journey  he  had  approached  David  Mc- 
Conaughy,  then  General  Secretary  of  the  Philadelphia  Asso- 
ciation, and  was  greatly  encouraged  by  his  willingness,  if  the 
way  was  opened,  to  go  to  India  as  the  Committee's  first  Secre- 
tary in  that  country.  In  such  an  event,  friends  of  McConaughy 
in  Philadelphia  had  offered  to  provide  his  support. 

Crossing  the  Pacific  and  beginning  in  Japan  in  January, 
1889,  Wishard  was  joined  by  Swift  and  both  accomplished  an 
excellent  pioneer  work.  After  a  year  of  teaching  and  volun- 
teer Association  work  in  Japan,  Swift  now  was  giving  his  whole 
time  to  the  Association,  as  an  employed  corresponding  member 
of  the  International  Committee.  He  had  already  organized 
in  Tokyo  three  Student  Associations,  one  of  them  in  the  Im- 
perial University,  and  had  visited  Kobe  and  Osaka.  In  the 
latter  city  he  discovered  the  great  value  of  the  work  of  Chris- 
tian unity  accomplished  in  the  new  Association  building  in  that 
city,  and  the  meetings  he  held  helped  to  promote  this  still 
farther.  But  he  also  discerned  clearly  the  need  of  a  local  Secre- 
tary to  organize  in  this  building  a  distinctive  Association  work 
for  young  men.  Swift  and  Wishard  held  a  successful  Student 
Conference  on  the  lines  followed  at  Northfield.  In  India  and 
China  Wishard  received  hearty  welcome  from  the  missionaries 
of  the  various  churches.    At  Madras  David  McConaughy  joined 


THE  OUTREACH  TO  OTHER  LANDS  371 

him  and  became  General  Secretary  in  that  city,  and  later 
National  Secretary  for  India.  In  each  portion  of  the  field 
visited  the  time  seemed  ripe  for  the  planting  of  the  Associa- 
tion in  both  university  and  city  centers.  The  tour,  from  which 
he  returned  early  in  1892  after  an  absence  of  a  little  more 
than  three  years,  was  one  that  had  been  extended  beyond  pre- 
cedent throughout  the  foreign  mission  field  and  the  Levant. 

The  Northfield  Student  Conference  of  1888 

Wishard  was  represented  at  Northfield  in  1888  by  eleven  stu- 
dents from  Oxford,  Cambridge,  Glasgow,  Edinburgh,  and 
Utrecht,  who  came  as  a  result  of  his  college  tour  in  Europe, 
and  were  favorably  impressed  with  the  Student  Association 
Work.  En  route  to  Northfield  they  were  entertained  in  New 
Haven  at  Dwight  Hall  by  the  Yale  Association.  Toward  the 
close  of  the  conference  I  invited  these  students  to  a  dinner 
at  the  Northfield  Hotel,  during  which  we  discussed  the  ques- 
tion, w^hether  some  similar  intercollegiate  fellowship  and  work 
was  not  practicable  in  Great  Britain.  All  agreed  that  it  was 
desirable.  From  such  knowledge  as  these  students  could  gain 
of  the  origin  of  our  work  in  America,  they  concluded  that  a 
first  step  would  be  to  secure  from  among  British  students  a 
visiting  Secretary  like  Wishard  or  Ober.  As  a  result  of  the 
work  of  a  competent  man  in  such  a  position,  the  desired  benefits 
could  be  obtained.  It  was  by  this  method  a  few  years  later 
that  this  goal  was  reached. 

Soon  after,  from  Christian  students  in  these  universities, 
came  a  request  for  further  conference  with  those  engaged  in 
our  college  work.  In  response  to  these  calls  and  a  similar  one 
from  students  in  the  Latin  quarter  of  Paris,  a  member  of  the 
Yale  graduate  committee,  actively  identified  with  the  work  be- 
fore and  after  his  graduation — James  B.  Reynolds — consented 
to  go  to  Europe  on  this  errand  in  February,  1889.  His  sup- 
port was  generously  provided  by  Elbert  B.  Monroe,  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Brooklyn  Association.  His  visit  extended  beyond 
the  universities  of  Great  Britain  to  Upsala,  Copenhagen,  Ber- 
lin, Prague,  Bonn,  Leyden,  Amsterdam,  and  Paris. 

Information  concerning  the  American  student  work  which 
he  represented  was  received  with  interest  and  he  was  success- 
ful in  promoting  an  attendance  upon  the  Northfield  Confer- 


372  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

ence  by  students  from  Great  Britain  and  a  few  from  the  con- 
tinental universities.  This  kept  up  a  spirit  of  inquiry  concern- 
ing effective  Christian  work  among  university  students  which 
was  destined  to  get  expression  in  a  permanent  form,  under 
stronger  leadership. 

Student  Volunteer  Movement — Ober,  Wilder,  Mott 

At  Northfield  in  1888  Mott  was  prominent  and  active  among 
the  Student  Volunteers.  Beyond  any  one  else  Ober  appreciated 
the  importance  of  prompt  and  strenuous  effort,  if  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement,  begun  at  Mount  Hermon,  was  to  be  effec- 
tively fostered  and  developed.  What  Wilder  and  Forman  had 
accomplished  in  the  college  year  of  1886-87  had  not  been  fol- 
lowed up  by  a  second  tour  in  1887  and  '88.  Ober  saw  that  to 
continue  the  omission  of  an  annual  visitation  would  be  disas- 
trous ;  also  that  what  had  been  accomplished  needed  to  be  more 
strongly  related  to,  and  identified  with,  the  Student  Associa- 
tion Movement.  That  Wilder  was  the  preeminent  man  to  do 
this,  by  another  year  given  to  the  work,  Ober  also  clearly  dis- 
cerned. The  good  friend  who  had  paid  the  expenses  of  the 
first  tour,  Daniel  W.  McWilliams,  was  at  Northfield,  and  in 
conference  with  Ober,  Mott,  and  myself,  he  generously  offered 
what  was  needed  for  this  second  tour.  At  costly  personal 
sacrifice  Wilder  consented  to  devote  another  year  to  this  im- 
portant undertaking.  What  he  now  accomplished  amounted 
to  a  reestablishment  of  the  good  work  begun  by  his  first  en- 
thusiastic campaign,  which,  in  late  years,  with  fine  discernment 
he  has  termed  an  era  marked  b^^  "infuriation"  as  well  as  by 
other  more  essential  and  enduring  features.  The  wisdom,  per- 
sistence, and  capacity  which  he  showed  in  this  second  endeavor 
confirmed  his  title  as  both  founder  and  leader  of  the  remark- 
able movement  he  initiated. 

Later  in  that  college  year  the  International  Student  Com- 
mittee at  the  suggestion  of  Ober  cooperated  in  forming  "The 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Missions,"  as  an 
agency  of  three  existing  organizations :  The  Young  Men's  and 
the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  and  the  Inter- 
Seminary  Missionary  Alliance  of  theological  students — an 
alliance  since  merged  in  our  Association  Student  Movement. 
In  framing  the  Student  Volunteer  Executive  Committee  an 


THE  OUTREACH  TO  OTHER  LANDS  373 

International  Student  Secretary  was  desired  as  Chairman. 
For  this  office  Ober  was  the  logical  choice,  but  his  insistence 
that  Mott  should  be  chosen  prevailed  with  the  International 
Student  Committee.  It  is  a  position  Mott  has  held  and  con- 
tinues to  hold  most  efficiently  until  the  present  time  (1917). 
The  representatives  of  the  other  two  agencies  completed  the 
Committee  and  Wilder  for  one  year,  until  he  went  out  to  the 
foreign  field,  most  fittingly  served  as  its  first  visiting  Secretary. 
This  important  service  as  a  missionary  delayed  his  depart- 
ure for  India  until  1891.  On  his  way  thither  he  visited  the 
British  universities,  founded  the  British  Student  Volunteer 
Missionary  Union,  and  also,  in  a  visit  to  Norway  and  Denmark, 
began  the  Scandinavian  Student  Volunteer  Movement.  After 
five  years  of  fruitful  service  among  the  students  of  India  he 
returned  to  the  home  base  to  organize  (1897-99)  with  rare 
efficiency  the  theological  section  of  our  North  American  Stu- 
dent Movement  and  returned  to  India  to  serve  first  as  Student 
and  then  as  General  Secretary  of  the  National  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  Council,  until  a  stroke  of  the  sun  com- 
pelled his  leaving  that  tropical  climate.  Then  in  Europe  he 
improved  opportunities  of  rendering  occasional  service  to  the 
students  of  Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Finland,  Switzerland, 
Germany,  Austria-Hungary,  Italy,  France,  and  Portugal, 
but  chiefly  those  of  Great  Britain,  where  for  eleven  years  (1906- 
16)  as  a  Secretary  of  the  British  Student  Movement  he  was 
greatly  blessed  in  his  work.  In  1916  he  accepted  the  call  of  the 
International  Committee  to  return  once  more  to  the  home  base 
and  has  become  one  of  the  associates  of  General  Secretary  Mott, 
as  Senior  Secretary  for  Religious  Work,  intrusted  with  a  major 
responsibility  for  the  religious  work  policy  of  varied  phases 
of  the  work  of  the  International  Committee  in  all  its  depart- 
ments. 

Official  Establishment,  Definition,  and  Early  Progress  of 
Foreign  Association  Work 

The  Convention  of  1889  at  Philadelphia 

The  two  remarkable  Student  Conferences  of  1887  and  1888 
at  Northfield  had  occurred  between  the  International  Conven- 
tions of  1887  and  1889. 


374  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

They  had  presented  to  the  Committee  opportunities  for  ex- 
tension of  Association  work  beyond  North  America,  in  the  im- 
provement of  which  had  been  felt  the  need  of  such  an  authoriza- 
tion as  could  come  alone  from  the  Convention.  Action  had 
been  taken,  up  to  the  limit  of  the  Committee's  discretion.  This 
discretion  had  been  defined  by  the  Convention  as  permitting 
the  Committee  "in  an  emergency  requiring  immediate  action 
to  adopt  such  measures  as  may  be  necessary,  not  inconsistent 
with  the  action  of  preceding  Conventions,  reporting  the  same 
to  the  next  succeeding  Convention  for  its  approval."  Wishard, 
its  College  Secretary,  had  been  granted  leave  of  absence,  and 
for  a  year  had  been  occupied  as  a  Secretary  of  the  World's 
Committee  with  a  mission  on  the  foreign  field,  which  his  stu- 
dent work  had  opened  to  him  and  the  expense  of  which  had 
been  met  by  friends  outside  of  the  Committee's  treasury. 

One  of  the  Committee's  corresponding  members,  John  Swift, 
was  also  being  supported  in  Japan  by  other  friends,  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Committee,  with  its  General  Secretary,  were  giving 
help  and  leadership  to  these  new  departures.  The  report  of 
the  Committee  submitted  by  the  chairman  to  the  Convention 
of  1889  at  Philadelphia  stated  these  facts  and  developments. 
The  Committee  member  most  intimately  connected  with  these 
forward  movements — Elbert  B.  Monroe — himself  strongly 
identified  with  the  foreign  mission  work  of  the  churches,  pled 
the  cause  of  the  extension  of  North  American  Association  work 
to  the  young  men  of  non-Christian  lands,  an  extension  urgently 
asked  for  by  representatives  of  the  ehurches  in  those  lands  and 
by  their  leaders  at  the  home  base.  He  was  followed  by  John 
T.  Swift,  who  had  come  from  Japan  because  of  a  conditional 
gift  of  125,000  from  an  American  friend  toward  a  fund  of  |60,- 
000  needed  to  erect  suitable  buildings  for  the  city  and  uni- 
versity Associations  in  Tokyo.  To  secure  the  balance  needed 
to  insure  and  complete  this  fund  was  the  object  of  his  visit 
home  at  this  time. 

To  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief  at  the  time,  Swift 
was  himself  the  real  donor  of  this  remarkable  initial  gift  for 
foreign  Association  buildings.  The  money  was  coming  to  him 
eventually — ^how  soon  I  do  not  know.  He  diverted  this  patri- 
mony to  this  fund.  Of  this  fact  I  received  credible  assurance 
at  that  time,  but  not  directly  from  him. 


THE  OUTREACH  TO  OTHER  LANDS  375 

First  Two  Foreign  Secretaries  Appointed 

The  delegates  listeued  very  sympathetically  to  this  plea  of 
Elbert  Monroe  and,  on  motion  of  T.  De  Witt  Cuyler,  Chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  the  International  Committee's  report, 
the  Convention  unanimously  "Resolved  that  the  International 
Committee  be  empowered  to  establish  such  Associations  and 
place  such  Secretaries  in  the  foreign  mission  field  as  in  its 
judgment  may  be  proper,  and  to  receive  such  contributions 
for  this  work  as  Associations  may  make  to  it." 

By  this  act  of  the  Convention,  Swift  became  the  Committee's 
first  Foreign  Secretary,  already  established  and  at  work  on  the 
field  in  Japan.  The  Committee  also  was  placed  in  a  position 
to  accept  the  offer  of  the  Philadelphia  Secretary,  David  Mc- 
Conaughy,  Jr.,  to  go  to  India  as  its  second  Secretary,  and  to 
meet  Wishard  there.  His  support  was  promised  by  friends  in 
Philadelphia.  Wishard  himself,  while  absent  from  the  home 
field,  was  now,  by  act  of  the  Convention,  a  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee's foreign  staff,  and  was  supported  on  it  by  "such  con- 
tributions for  this  work  as  individuals  were  making  to  it" 
through  the  custody  and  disbursement  of  the  Committee's  Gen- 
eral Secretary. 

Accordingly,  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Convention,  in 
order  to  hasten  the  return  of  Swift,  McBurney  and  I  under- 
took and  were  able  to  secure  promptly  from  several  friends 
$33,000  still  needed  for  the  Tokyo  building.  The  return  of 
Swift  was  no  longer  delayed,  and  on  the  same  day  in  October 
he  and  McConaughy  left  New  York,  the  one  going  west  on  his 
way  to  Japan,  and  the  other  eastward  toward  India.  In 
Madras,  McConaughy  met  Wishard.  It  was  the  city  from 
which  Dr.  Chamberlain  had  sent  the  call  for  a  Secretary',  and 
after  careful  consultation  it  seemed  best  that  the  work  should 
begin  there. 

Plan  and  Policy  of  Work  Defined 

Immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
vention, a  special  sub-committee  of  the  International  Com- 
mittee met  to  define  the  foreign  work  policy,  which  "in  its 
judgment"  it  was  "proper"  to  adopt  in  accordance  with  the 
authorization  of  the  Convention,  and  with  Association  princi- 
ples and  precedents,  especially  as  these  vitally  concerned  the 


376  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

relation  of  the  Association  to  the  churches,  and  their  work  on 
the  foreign  mission  field. 

At  the  suggestion  of  McBurney  it  was  agreed  that  no  final 
action  should  be  taken  until  a  first  draft  of  what  was  proposed 
had  been  sent  to  every  member  of  the  International  Committee, 
with  a  request  for  his  opinion,  and  for  suggestion  as  to  any 
modification  that  might  seem  to  him  to  be  desirable.  As  a 
result  of  this  wide  consultation,  the  Committee  defined  its 
policy  to  be  "the  establishment  or  planting  on  the  foreign  mis- 
sion field  of  a  specific  work  for  saving  and  developing  young 
men  to  be  carried  on,  upon  the  lines  recognized  as  belonging 
to  the  Association  work  of  this  continent,  including  its  strong 
deferential  relation  to  the  evangelical  churches."  The  sending 
out  of  general  missionaries  to  new  fields  was  especially  dis- 
claimed, and  the  workers  sent  out  were  to  be  known  as  Secre- 
taries of  the  International  Committee.  Special  emphasis  was 
placed  upon  taking  every  step  in  harmony  with  the  representa- 
tives of  the  churches  already  on  every  field  where  there  could 
be  planted  ''native,  self-sustaining  Associations."  To  form 
these  would  be  the  objective  of  these  Foreign  Secretaries  of 
the  Committee. 

It  was  a  wise  and  timely  action,  giving  direction  to  the 
interest  and  enthusiasm  on  behalf  of  foreign  mission  endeavor 
which  was  being  awakened  among  the  Associations.  In  Kansas 
this  enthusiasm  was  taking  the  form  of  an  endeavor  of  a  non- 
Association  character.  For  some  years  the  State  Work  had 
been  growing  in  extent,  under  an  exceptionally  able  State 
Secretary.  In  1889  the  employed  staff  of  the  Kansas  Com- 
mittee was  larger  than  that  of  any  other  state.  It  commanded 
the  confidence  of  the  Associations  and  their  leaders  through- 
out the  state.  But  they  were  misled — so  it  was  reported  to 
the  International  Committee — into  promoting  what  was  known 
as  "The  Kansas  Missionary  Movement  in  the  Soudan."  It  was 
a  genuine  missionary  endeavor  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  dark- 
est Africa,  but  it  was  wholly  independent  of  any  connection 
with  the  evangelical  church  mission  Boards  and  their  work, 
and  it  was  not  directed  to  distinctive  Association  work  for 
young  men.  The  Kansas  State  Secretaries  were  understood  to 
be  actively  connected  with  this  movement,  and  were  genuinely 
and  deeply  moved  by  the  missionary  motive.    It  was  an  under- 


THE  OUTREACH  TO  OTHER  LANDS  377 

taking  bv  them,  most  commendable  in  itself,  but  so  inconsistent 
with  the  declarations  and  pledges  of  the  Associations  regard- 
ing their  relation  to  the  churches,  that  the  International  Com- 
mittee felt  obliged  to  ask  for  a  conference  with  the  Kansas 
Committee  on  this  subject.  This  request  was  granted,  and 
the  chairman,  the  treasurer,  and  Robert  McBurney,  Thomas 
Cochran,  Charles  K.  Ober,  and  myself  met  the  Committee  at 
Topeka,  September  17,  1890,  and  frankly  pointed  out  to  its 
members  and  Secretaries  the  departure  they  were  making  from 
what  was  fundamental  in  the  relation  of  the  Associations  to 
the  churches,  and  their  workers  on  the  foreign  mission  field. 
This  attitude  of  the  Committee,  and  the  counsel  suggested  by 
it,  led  ultimately  to  the  resignation  of  the  State  Secretary  and 
the  discontinuance  of  the  relation  of  the  Kansas  Committee  to 
this  general  and  independent  missionary  movement.  Under 
other  official  management,  the  former  State  Secretary  and  his 
friends  and  fellow-workers  have  carried  on  excellent  aggressive 
and  growing  missionary  work  in  Africa.  Support  and  exten- 
sion of  distinctive  Association  work  on  "the  foreign  field 
steadily  increased  as  authorized  by  the  Kansas  City  Conven- 
tion of  1891  and  its  successors.  Indeed  no  department  of  the 
Committee's  work  has  been  more  strongly  fostered  by  Interna- 
tional, State,  and  Provincial  Committees  and  by  the  local 
Associations. 

It  was  at  this  period,  in  one  of  the  State  Conventions,  in 
a  section  to  which  some  influences  from  the  Kansas  movement 
had  extended,  that  I  was  asked  to  deal  with  the  subject :  "The 
Influence  and  Relationships  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation." No  critical  reference  was  made  to  any  existing  un- 
desirable tendencies,  but  the  burden  of  the  address  was  a  con- 
structive setting  forth  of  the  distinctive  purpose  of  the  Asso- 
ciation and  its  relation  to  the  churches  and  their  agencies, 
with  which,  as  the  Association  extended  its  work,  it  was  being 
brought  in  touch.  This  address  was  printed  in  pamphlet  form 
by  the  Committee  and  at  the  time  had  a  wide  circulation. 

Student  Volunteer  Conventions— Wishard,  Mott,  and  Speer 

From  his  four  years'  missionary  journey — 1888-1892 — Wish- 
ard returned  with  an  interest  and  enthusiasm  in  the  Student 
Work  that  was  unabated.    His  inclination  was  to  continue  in 


378  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

that  work,  but  his  obligation  to  the  foreign  work  and  his  fel- 
low Secretaries  on  that  field  and  to  the  increase  of  their  num- 
ber, imperatively  called  him  to  concentration  upon  the  foreign 
work,  promoted  by  his  own  successful  labor  as  a  College  Sec- 
retary and  by  his  recent  world  journey  and  visitation. 

During  his  long  absence  the  student  secretaryship  had  been 
filled  first,  with  fine  discernment  and  ability,  by  Charles  K. 
Ober,  but  before  Wishard's  return  Ober  responded  in  1890  to 
an  urgent  call  for  his  work  as  a  Field  Secretary,  and  Mott 
succeeded  him  as  College  Secretary,  joined  a  year  later  by 
Fletcher  S.  Brockman  as  an  associate,  especially  for  Student 
Work  at  the  South. 

Mott  was  also  strongly  identified  with  Student  Work  as 
Chairman  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Committee.  In  1891  at 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  had  been  held  the  first  Student  Volunteer  Con- 
vention. This  remarkable  meeting  created  a  profound  impres- 
sion, bringing  together  a  larger  body  of  undergraduate  students 
than  ever  before  had  assembled  for  deliberative  and  protracted 
conference.  The  churches  were  represented  by  their  foreign 
missionaries  home  on  furlough  and  by  members  of  their  for- 
eign mission  Boards.  At  the  stirring  and  widely  reported 
sessions  of  this  convention,  two  young  men,  John  R.  Mott  and 
Robert  E.  Speer,  were  the  prominent,  outstanding  personalities. 
During  the  years  of  Wishard's  absence  they  had  become,  at 
Northfield,  strong  student  leaders,  but  this  meeting  at  Cleve- 
land brought  them  into  wider  prominence.  Mott  presided  at 
every  session,  commanding  attention  and  approval  as  a  presid- 
ing officer  and  a  leader  of  rare  ability  and  bright  promise. 

Associated  with  him,  as  the  leading  platform  speaker,  was 
Robert  E.  Speer,  already  every  summer  a  vital  force  and  in- 
spiration at  Northfield,  known  also  throughout  the  student 
brotherhood  as  a  visiting  secretary  of  the  Student  Volunteer 
Movement  and  about  to  become  in  that  year  one  of  the  Church's 
strongest  promoters  of  its  foreign  missionary  enterprise. 

The  Committee's  work  and  workers  on  the  foreign  field  Wish- 
ard  had  been  exploiting  by  visitation,  and  now  these  called  for 
his  undivided  attention  at  the  home  base.  During  his  absence 
the  supporting  and  recruiting  work  had  been  cared  for  by  him 
in  correspondence  and  with  the  cooperation  of  the  student  staff 
and  the  General  Secretary.    There  had  been  sent  to  the  field  an 


THE  OUTREACH  TO  OTHER  LANDS  379 

associate  for  Swift  iu  Japan  in  1891,  Kauford  S.  Miller,  Jr., 
and  the  same  year  the  first  Secretary  for  South  America,  Myron 
A.  Clark,  now  the  senior  Foreign  Secretary  of  the  Committee. 
Wishard  entered  promptly  upon  this  congenial  work.  In  Mott, 
as  Student  Secretary  and  Chairman  of  the  Student  Volunteer 
Movement,  he  found  a  sympathetic  helper,  and  both  were  ac- 
tively identified  with  the  second  Volunteer  Convention  in  1894. 
It  was  held  in  Detroit,  and  was  a  larger  and  even  more  im- 
pressive meeting  than  its  predecessor. 

Wishard,  as  Foreign  Work  Secretary  of  the  Committee  at 
the  home  office  until  1898,  effectively  followed  up  the  work  for 
w^hich  his  protracted  tour  had  opened  the  way.  He  developed 
a  constituency  of  supporters,  and  added  to  the  four  Secretaries 
already  on  the  field,  eight  more  who  were  located — J.  Campbell 
W^hite  in  India  (1893),  D.  Willard  Lyon  in  China  (1895), 
George  Sherwood  Eddy  in  India  (1897),  Louis  Hieb  in  Ceylon 
(1896),  Galen  M.  Fisher  in  Japan,  Robert  R.  Gailey,  Robert  E. 
Lewis,  and  Fletcher  S.  Brockmau  in  China  (1898).  During 
his  absence  until  1892,  the  administration  of  the  Foreign  Work 
Department  from  the  home  office  was  a  tax  upon  the  college 
force  and  myself,  but  on  his  return  he  was  in  charge  until 
1895,  when  he  again  went  to  Europe  and  Africa  on  Associa- 
tion errands,  and  was  away  for  more  than  a  year. 

Mott  was  away  at  the  same  time  (1895-97)  on  his  first  re- 
markable world  tour.  At  the  origin  of  the  Student  Work  and 
its  outgrowths — the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  and  the  For- 
eign Work  Department  of  the  Committee — I  was  brought  into 
an  intimate  relation  as  the  senior  advisory  and  supervisory 
Secretary  of  all  who  had  to  do  with  these  most  interesting  de- 
velopments of  the  International  Work.  Each  phase  in  turn 
won  the  most  ardent  sympathy  and  the  strongest  cooperation 
I  could  give,  both  personally  and  officially.  To  share  the  en- 
thusiasms and  labors  of  my  younger  associates  was  a  happiness 
I  will  not  attempt  to  describe. 

The  World's  Student  Christian  Federation 
Journeys  of  Mott  and  Wishard.  1895-1897 

At  Vadstena  Castle  in  Sweden  in  August,  1895,  the  World's 
Student  Christian  Federation  was  formed  by  representatives 


380  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

of  the  student  Movements  of  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
the  United  Kingdom,  Germany,  the  Scandinavian  countries, 
and  the  so-called  Mission  Lands.  Of  the  two  representatives 
from  the  United  States  and  Canada,  Mott  was  chosen  General 
Secretary  and  Wishard  Treasurer,  Karl  Fries  was  elected 
Chairman  and  J.  R.  Williamson,  M.D.,  of  England,  Correspond- 
ing Secretary.  Of  these  officers  Mott  and  Fries  still  continue 
after  the  lapse  of  over  twenty  years  in  the  positions  to  which 
they  were  then  elected.  The  students  at  Vadstena  represented 
four  Student  Movements  in  the  countries  from  which  they  came 
and  a  fifth,  "The  Student  Christian  Movement  in  Mission 
Lands,"  was  composed  of  Student  Associations  in  non-Christian 
countries  and  was  represented  by  Wishard  in  his  relation  to 
them  as  the  Foreign  Work  Secretary  of  the  International 
Committee.  Wishard's  visit  to  South  Africa  (1896)  resulted 
in  adding  a  sixth  Student  Movement  to  the  five  which  at  its 
organization  at  Vadstena  constituted  the  Federation. 

In  October,  1896,  after  a  year's  absence,  Wishard  returned 
to  resume  for  another  year  his  work  as  Foreign  Work  Secre- 
tary at  the  home  base.  Then  for  a  year  (1897-98)  on  leave  of 
absence,  he  conducted  a  strong  forward  movement  as  agent 
of  the  Presbyterian  Foreign  Mission  Board.  At  the  close  of 
this  useful  service  he  withdrew  from  the  staff  of  the  Committee, 
to  accept  a  forward  movement  agency  in  connection  with  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions.  He 
had  been  for  twenty-one  years  a  strong  leading  Secretary  ou 
the  Committee's  staff,  for  eleven  years  its  Student  Secretary, 
and  for  the  last  ten  years  its  Foreign  Work  Secretary. 

In  accepting  his  resignation  the  Committee  expressed  ap- 
preciation of  the  fine  pioneer  quality  of  the  service  he  had 
rendered  to  Student  Work  at  home  and  to  its  extension  into 
both  the  Christian  and  non-Christian  world.  A  chief  result 
had  been  that  more  students  had  volunteered  for  the  foreign 
field  than  the  churches  could  send  out.  Now  he  had  resigned 
in  order  to  help  the  churches  make  favorable  reply  to  the  stu- 
dents who  were  saying,  "We  will  go  to  the  foreign  field  if  you 
will  send  us."  Of  his  departure  the  Committee  in  its  minutes 
said :  "It  seems  to  us  a  graduation  and  promotion  into  leader- 
ship of  a  movement  which  grows  out  of  the  remarkable  work 
he  has  accomplished  among  students  in  this  and  in  other  lands." 


THE  OUTREACH  TO  OTHER  LANDS  381 

Mott's  tour  of  twenty  months  (lSJ)()-97)  bad  added  to  the 
Federation  four  more  Student  Movements — from  India  and 
Ceylon,  Australasia,  China,  and  Japan — making  a  total  of  ten 
affiliated  in  the  student  brotherhood.  On  reaching  San  Fran- 
cisco, his  serious  problem  was:  How  to  adjust  the  obligations 
of  his  new  office  to  those  of  the  positions  he  had  been  holding 
before  this  journey.  In  crossing  the  continent  he  stopped  at 
Chicago  to  call  on  Mrs.  Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  Senior,  who  had 
been  among  the  most  generous  friends  in  providing  for  the 
expense  of  his  tour.  With  deep  interest  she  had  read  his  let- 
ters to  herself  and  other  friends,  admirablj-  reporting  the  work 
accomplished  during  his  protracted  absence. 

Though  in  feeble  health  at  the  time  and  confined  to  her  room, 
she  insisted  on  seeing  him,  and  asked  what  his  program  was 
now  to  be.  When  he  confessed  to  not  being  able  as  yet  to 
make  a  definite  reply,  she  showed  discerning  and  generous  ap- 
preciation of  the  situation,  and  with  the  sympathy  of  her  sons 
and  family  she  assumed  for  herself  and  them  such  a  contribu- 
tion as  covered  his  entire  salary  and  exjienses  and  made 
financially  practicable  such  a  distribution  of  his  time  among 
his  official  obligations  as  was  rendered  necessary  by  them. 

In  this  way  provision  was  made  for  his  continuance  in  the 
four  offices  he  held,  each  of  them  having  vital  and  supporting 
relation  to  the  others.  In  all  of  them  he  was  serving  student 
organizations,  so  vitally  related  to  the  extension  of  the  King- 
dom of  Christ  throughout  the  non-Christian  world  as  to  en- 
able him  consistently  and  satisfactorily  to  fulfil  in  them  the 
pledge  of  life-long  work  which  as  an  undergraduate  Student 
Volunteer  he  had  made  at  Mt.  Hermon  in  1886. 

In  the  conduct  of  the  Federation  he  was  for  years  without 
such  salaried  Secretaries  as  were  his  helpers  in  the  leadership 
of  our  Student  Department  and  of  the  Volunteer  Movement, 
but  in  the  conduct  of  these  two  he  now  (1897)  had  eight  such 
secretarial  associates,  and  the  number  was  steadily  increasing. 
It  was  his  remarkable  ability  to  select  and  use  this  increasing 
number  of  qualified  helpers,  salaried  and  unsalaried,  that  made 
possible  the  steady  increase  in  the  number  of  offices  he  excel- 
lently administered. 

On  the  departure  of  Wishard,  Mott  soon  began  to  take  on 
such  responsibility  in  regard  to  both   Student  and  Foreign 


382  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Work  as  to  relieve  me  more  than  any  other  member  of  the 
staff  had  ever  done.  Though  not  in  name  and  title,  he  was  in 
reality  rei)lyiug  favorably  to  a  substantial  i^art  of  the  proposi- 
tion concerning  the  General  Secretaryship  which  I  had  made 
to  him  before  he  set  out  on  his  first  world  journey. 

Ten  Years  Membership  in  the  Federation  Committee 

According  to  the  Federation  rules,  its  Committee  was  com- 
posed of  two  members  from  each  of  the  ten  National  and  In- 
ternational Movements  which  in  1897  constituted  the  Federa- 
tion. Its  first  meeting,  after  the  one  in  Vadstena  where  it  was 
organized,  was  held  on  our  continent  at  Williamstown,  Massa- 
chusetts, during  the  week  following  the  Northfield  Conference 
of  that  year.  Wishard's  necessary  withdrawal  from  student 
work  to  promote  a  forward  movement  of  the  Presbyterian  For- 
eign Mission  Board  occasioned  a  request  to  me  to  take  his 
place  and  join  Mott  as  the  second  of  the  two  members  on  the 
Federation  Committee  who  represented  the  Student  Movement 
of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  The  members  of  the  Com- 
mittee who  came  from  Europe,  Asia,  and  Australasia  to  attend 
the  meeting,  were  our  guests  at  the  Northfield  Conference  of 
that  year,  and  there  became  acquainted  with  the  spirit  and 
method  of  our  Student  Work.  There  also  they  met  not  only 
500  students  from  136  North  American  colleges  and  universi- 
ties, but  students  representing  twenty-four  other  countries. 

In  the  absence  of  the  Chairman,  Karl  Fries  of  Sweden,  the 
vice-Chairman,  Dr.  K.  Ibuka  of  Japan,  presided.  Every  one 
of  the  ten  Movements  was  represented  by  one  or  more  of  its 
representatives  on  the  Committee.  The  rules  were  reviewed 
and  carefully  revised.  At  each  subsequent  biennial  session 
some  further  improvements  were  made  at  the  suggestion  of 
the  Committee  on  Rules  of  which  I  was  appointed  chairman. 
The  delegates  from  other  continents  had  been  carefully  study- 
ing the  North  American  Student  Movement,  Its  close  relation 
to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  and  to  the  North- 
field  Conference,  and  the  character  of  its  leadership  challenged 
their  attention.  The  relation  of  this  Student  Work  to  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement,  and  of  both  to  church  and  other 
Christian  work  in  the  non-Christian  world  was  carefully  con- 
sidered.   Also  the  story  was  told  of  how  the  whole  Student 


THE  OUTREACH  TO  OTHER  LANDS  383 

Movement  in  North  America  could  be  traced  to  the  "Haystack 
Prayer  Meeting"  of  180G  and  the  band  of  undergraduate  col- 
lege students  to  whom  was  due  the  beginning  of  foreign  mis- 
sion work  by  the  churches  of  North  America. 

The  most  impressive  session  was  held  when  these  delegates 
from  around  the  world  gathered  about  the  monument  erected 
on  the  spot  where  the  Haystack  Meeting  had  taken  place. 
In  1806,  when  those  five  students  sought  the  shelter  of  the 
haystack  to  escape  the  fury  of  a  thunderstorm  and  continued 
in  prayer  that  the  Gospel  might  be  carried  to  the  heathen, 
they  confronted  their  task  with  the  motto  or  slogan ;  "We  can 
do  it  if  we  will."  These  seven  words  are  engraved  on  the 
monument.  Among  our  small  group  of  students,  some  came 
from  the  lands  unevangelized  at  the  time  of  the  Haystack 
Meeting.  Now  all  joined  hands  around  the  monument,  and 
after  uniting  in  prayer  each  in  his  own  language  repeated 
the  words  "We  can  do  it  if  we  will,"  and  each  in  turn  realized 
that  the  same  task  was  being  faced  by  his  own  Movement  that 
the  students  of  a  hundred  years  ago  had  confronted.  They 
prayed  for  the  same  inspiration,  confidence,  and  fidelity  which 
had  stimulated  their  predecessors. 

In  one  of  the  sessions  the  vital  question  was  asked  of  those 
representing  each  movement — as  it  was  asked  subsequently 
in  every  meeting  of  the  Federation  Committee — "What  can 
the  Federation  do  for  your  movement  during  the  coming  two 
years?"  A  recess  was  taken,  in  order  that  each  might  con- 
sider the  question  from  its  own  point  of  view.  When  we  re- 
assembled there  was  a  request  which  was  first  on  the  list  of 
every  movement :  a  petition  for  a  visit  from  the  General  Secre- 
tary !  In  each  case  it  was  demonstrated  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  one  making  the  request  that  its  call  was  the  most  urgent 
of  all.  At  every  succeeding  biennial  meeting  during  my  ten 
years  of  membership,  this  request  maintained  its  preeminence. 
In  every  instance  also  the  conclusion  was  reached  that  the 
General  Secretary  was  in  such  relation  to  his  other  work,  and 
to  all  the  movements,  that  he  and  his  fellow  officers  must 
take  into  consideration  each  and  all  requests  and,  enlightened 
by  prayer,  respond  according  to  their  best  judgment. 

Another  interesting  and  significant  feature  of  this  and 
every  subsequent  meeting  was  the  unanimous  vote  by  which 


384  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

every  action  was  taken.  The  achievement  of  this  unanimity  at 
the  close  of  every  deliberation  undoubtedly  prolonged  the 
discussions,  but  was  of  inestimable  value.  In  the  protracted 
process  of  attaining  unanimity  each  movement  felt  it  had  taken 
a  part,  either  by  advocacy  or  concession,  in  an  assent  that  was 
intelligent  and  decided.  Harmonious  cooperation  by  all  was 
thus  secured.  It  became  an  ambition  of  the  Federation  Com- 
mittee to  maintain  this  record  and  practice.  It  was,  in  fact, 
of  vital  importance.  As  an  international  interdenominational 
organization,  unity  was  indispensable  to  successful  achieve- 
ment. It  is  an  emphasis  placed  by  Our  Lord  in  His  prayer 
for  His  disciples  upon  the  words :  "That  they  all  may  be  one." 
Unity  was  estimated  at  the  supreme  value  with  which  He 
seemed  to  regard  it  when  He  repeated  His  prayer  for  it. 

For  ten  years  I  continued  to  enjoy  the  great  privilege  of 
membership  in  this  Federation  Committee,  and  was  present 
at  every  one  of  its  biennial  meetings  during  that  period:  at 
Eisenach,  Germany,  in  1898;  Versailles,  1900;  Soro,  Denmark, 
1902;  Zeist,  Holland,  in  1905,  and  Tokyo,  Japan,  in  1907.  To 
the  ten  Student  Movements  there  were  added  in  this  period 
one  from  Holland  and  Switzerland  and  a  cooperating  com- 
mittee for  work  among  women  students  with  a  secretary,  Miss 
Euth  Rouse,  for  work  among  these  students.^ 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Federation,  value  was  attached  to 
my  service  as  a  senior  member  who  for  twenty  years  had  been 
an  ofScer  of  another  allied  organization,  the  Committee  of 
our  World's  Conference.  To  promote  the  intimate  fellowship 
of  these  two  ecumenical  organizations  seemed  to  me  of  first 
importance,  and  I  was  rejoiced  when  Federation  General  Sec- 
retary Mott  became  influential  in  the  councils  of  the  World's 
Conference,  and  eventually  was  elected  to  its  Committee. 
But  the  continuance  of  my  own  connection  with  the  Federation 
Committee  was  necessarily  limited.  Its  membership  was 
wisely  and  strictly  limited  to  two  from  each  movement,  and 
it  was  especially  important  that  from  North  America  no  more 
than  two — including  Secretary  Mott — should  come.  From  the 
beginning  it  was  understood  between  us  that  as  soon  as  prac- 
ticable in  the  development  of  the  work  a  junior  associate, 
more  wholly  occupied  with  the  Student  Work  than  I,  should 

3  p.  353. 


THE  OUTREACH  TO  OTHER  LANDS  38S 

be  secured  in  my  place.  To  continue  as  many  as  ten  years  was 
a  great  privilege,  for  I  was  less  conscious  of  any  service  I 
could  render  than  of  the  benefit  and  help  received  by  me 
through  this  connection  with  the  Federation,  its  fellowship, 
administration,  and  General  Secretary. 

Steadily  the  Federati.on  made  progress  in  extent  and  effi- 
ciency. During  his  journeys  on  all  the  continents  and  in  his 
correspondence,  the  General  Secretary  showed  rare  ability  to 
serve  not  only  the  Federation  but  equally  his  associates  in 
the  Student  and  Foreign  J^'o^k  of  our  Committee  and  in  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement.  Unity  and  cooperation  per- 
meated the  whole  varied  student  w^ork  to  which  he  was  officially 
and  in  a  masterly  way  related.  Of  the  twenty  members  con- 
stituting the  Committee  at  its  meeting  in  1897,  only  three  were 
still  members  when  I  resigned  ten  years  afterward — Dr.  Fries 
the  Chairman,  Dr.  Mott  the  General  Secretary,  and  Pastor 
K,  Martin  Eckhofif  of  Norway,  who  has  recently  passed  on  to 
his  reward. 

An  Interesting  Comparison 

As  a  w^orld-wide  development  of  Student  Work,  this  organi- 
zation w^as  intensely  interesting  to  me  in  both  the  resemblance 
and  the  contrast  it  presented  to  the  World's  Conference  of 'our 
Associations  and  its  World's  Committee.  The  Conference  was 
the  older  and  I  had  been  intimately  connected  with  it  since 
1872.  An  increasingly  close  relation  between  the  two  seemed 
to  me  a  desirable  goal  for  each  to  seek.  Both  are  world  federa- 
tions of  the  youth  of  many  countries,  with  their  strongest 
group  located  in  North  America,  and  each  receives  from  this 
strongest  group  guiding  suggestion  and  initiative.  Both  are 
positively  and  aggressively  Christian  in  their  name,  and  are 
substantially  agreed  on  the  basis  adopted  by  the  older  organi- 
zation at  its  first  Conference  in  Paris  in  1855,  though  the  exact 
language  of  this  basis  is  not  used  'by  the  younger  organization 
in  defining  its  objective. 

There  is  a  greater  solidarity  and  efficiency  in  the  younger 
Federation.  It  is  composed  of  only  one  of  the  many  classes 
of  young  men  composing  the  older  organization  and  its  stu- 
dent members  are  so  largely  undergraduates  as  to  be  peren- 
nially youthful.     They  belong  to  a  class — men  and  women  of 


386  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

education — preeminent  in  point  of  influence  throughout  both 
the  Christian  and  non-Christian  world.  Also  in  the  different 
countries  and  races  they  constitute  a  class,  the  members  of 
which  round  the  world  probably  resemble  and  sympathize  with 
one  another  more  closely  and  intelligently  than  do  those  of 
any  other  class. 

The  forms  and  methods  of  work  among  students  are  also 
less  varied  and  more  simple  than  is  the  four-fold  work  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  As  compared  with  other 
Association  work,  the  Student  Work  is  more  predominantly 
religious  and  spiritual.  This  makes  possible  in  it  a  swifter 
progress  toward  genuine  solidarity  in  world  fellowship  and 
organization.  While  the  strongest  group  of  both  organiza- 
tions is  in  North  America,  the  Student  Federation  has  more 
effectively  centered  its  world  administration  and  secured  its 
leaders  within  this  strongest  group.  Therefore  the  resources 
of  the  North  American  Movement  have  been  far  more  directly 
and  responsibly  helpful  to  the  Federation  Committee  than  they 
have  been  to  the  World's  Conference  and  its  Committee. 

The  Association  World  Conference  has  not  yet  located  any 
meetings  of  its  Conference  or  of  its  Committee  where  its  Asso- 
ciations are  strongest  in  numbers  and  resources.  When  the 
Conference  was  formed  in  18.55,  it  was  not  brought  together, 
as  was  the  Federation,  by  a  single  strong  agency  which  be- 
came at  once  and  permanently  a  commanding  and  uniting 
executive.  Such  a  course  was  impracticable  because  the  dele- 
gates came  from  societies  in  different  nations  and  composed 
of  many  different  classes  of  young  men,  who  had  developed 
varying  and  apparently  diverging  types  of  work. 

For  forty  years  before  the  Student  Federation  was  formed, 
the  World  Conference  met  in  different  cities,  all  located  in 
Europe,  and  it  met  for  twenty-two  years  without  an  Executive 
Committee.  When  such  a  Committee  was  formed,  it  was 
deemed  best  to  locate  its  working  quorum  and  General  Secre- 
tary, not  in  one  of  the  larger  countries  of  Europe  where  the 
stronger  Associations  with  greater  resources  in  men  and  money 
had  been  organized,  but  in  a  neutral  environment  unvexed 
by  national  rivalries  and  animosities.  This  was  sought  and 
found  in  Switzerland,  at  Geneva,  where  the  Committee  has  con- 
tinued ever  since  its  appointment  in  1878.     In  its  work  of 


THE  OUTREACH  TO  OTHER  LANDS  SSf 

visitation  it  has  been  limited  chiefly  to  the  continent  of  Europe, 
where  all  the  meetings  of  both  Conference  and  Committee  con- 
tinue to  be  held.  The  result  has  been  that  it  has  not  com- 
mandetl  sufficient  resources  in  men  and  money  to  accomplish 
a  work  of  extension  to  other  continents.  Such  a  work  of 
world-wide  extension,  however,  the  North  American  Associa- 
tions have  had  the  resources  to  accomplish  under  the  strong 
leadership  of  their  Student  Department.  To  its  masterly 
leader  also  is  due  the  existence  and  development  of  the  Student 
Federation  itself,  and  perhaps  the  strongest  point  of  contrast 
is  found  in  the  fact  that  God  has  graciously  given  to  the 
Student  Federation  from  its  beginning,  within  and  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  life 
service  and  leadership  of  the  ablest  man  in  his  own  generation 
from  among  those  who  have  devoted  their  lives  to  work  in 
Christ's  name  among  young  men.  Who  can  calculate  the  value 
of  this  commanding  personal  asset? 

In  North  America,  where  Student  and  Association  Work 
are  strongest,  the  Student  Movement  is  an  integral  part  of 
the  Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations. 
This  is  true  also  in  South  America,  Japan,  China,  India,  and 
some  other  countries,  where  the  work  among  students  and 
other  classes  of  young  men  has  been  established  or  modified 
by  workers  from  North  America. 

This  existence,  affiliation,  and  development  of  the  Student 
Work  within  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  has  been 
entirely  consistent  with  a  separation  of  the  members  of  this 
strong  class — as  also  of  other  classes  of  young  men — to  ac- 
complish among  its  own  members  a  work  which  is  possible 
only  as  they  are  separated  to  such  work.  A  growing  coopera- 
tive relation  between  the  Student  Federation  and  the  World's 
Conference  is  proving  practicable.  In  point  of  fact,  during  the 
decade  under  review  the  Federation  General  Secretary,  Dr. 
Mott,  became  very  active  in  his  vital  connection  with  the 
World's  Conference.  In  the  meeting  of  1898  he  succeeded 
McBurney  as  Chairman  of  the  influential  Delegates'  Com- 
mittee, and  was  reelected  to  that  committee  at  the  three  fol- 
lowing Conferences  of  1902,  1905,  and  1909.  Also  during  this 
period  he  became  one  of  the  American  members  of  the  World's 
Committee,  belonged  to  its  Executive  Committee,  and  was  active 


dS8  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

in  its  meetings  and  administration.  No  stronger  link,  personal 
and  oflBcial,  could  bring  together  these  two  kindred  world 
movements  in  the  interests  of  unity  and  efficiency  in  inter- 
national Christian  work, 

A  World  Power 

When  the  world  war  broke  out,  August,  1914,  practically  all 
the  young  men  of  Europe  became  identified  with  the  armies 
on  both  sides  of  the  conflict.  At  once  in  camp  and  trenches, 
in  hospitals  and  convalescent  homes,  and  among  prisoners, 
there  was  urgent  call  for  such  ministry  of  Association  work 
and  workers  as  had  been  initiated  among  soldiers  in  North 
America.  As  the  preeminent  leader  in  both  Conference  and 
Student  Federation,  Dr.  Mott  called  to  his  help  expert  workers 
in  both  brotherhoods  to  answer  the  call  of  need  from  the 
millions  of  men  under  arms  enlisted  from  among  all  classes. 
In  this  way  the  exigencies  and  emergencies  of  a  war  beyond 
precedent  have  welded  together  in  this  work  in  Christ's  name 
young  men  of  all  classes  under  a  world  student  leader.  Be- 
fore a  year  of  this  union  in  war  work  had  passed  away,  the 
time  seemed  ripe  to  both  the  International  Committee  and 
Dr.  Mott,  in  the  light  of  a  variety  of  urgent  considerations,  for 
his  acceptance  of  the  long  standing  invitation  extended  to 
him  to  become  General  Secretary  of  the  Committee,  not  only 
for  the  student  and  foreign  fields  but  equally  for  the  work  at 
the  home  base  of  the  North  American  Associations — a  base 
created  by  the  City  Association  movement. 

An  American  scholar  and  traveler  wrote  as  follows  in  1913 : 

*'My  trip  around  the  world,  including  a  tour  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, and  a  journey  over  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway, 
brought  six  world  powers  very  prominently  into  view — the 
British  Empire,  the  Russian  p]mpire,  the  Japanese  Empire, 
the  Chinese  Rejjublic,  the  American  Republic,  and  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association.  Cooledge  says  a  world  power  is 
one  ^which  is  directly  interested  in  all  parts  of  the  world  and 
whose  voice  must  be  listened  to  everywhere.'  When  the  range 
and  quality  of  influence  are  considered,  there  is  no  exaggera- 
tion in  saying,  'These  are  six  of  the  greatest  world  powers  and 
the  greatest  of  these  is  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.' 
The  British  realm  is  great,  but  the  Christian  Association 
reaches  a  wider  area ;  the  American  voice  is  fine  and  progres- 


THE  OUTREACH  TO  OTHER  LANDS  389' 

sive,  but  the  Association  voice  is  stronger  for  righteousness, 
and  truer  to  the  highest  and  best  things.  A  world  tour,  with 
eyes  and  ears  open  to  the  interests  and  activities  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, cannot  fail  to  create  in  one  the  profoundest  apprecia- 
tion of  its  worth." 

To  these  six  powers  Germany  might  be  added  as  a  seventh. 
These  words  were  written  and  published  before  the  outbreak 
in  Europe  of  the  great  world  war.  The  spread  of  the  work 
of  the  Associations  among  the  millions  of  young  men  under 
arms  certainly  adds  emphasis  to  these  words  of  appreciation 
from  Professor  Oscar  E.  Brown,  of  Vanderbilt  University. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  began  in  the  city. 
The  City  Movement  and  its  leaders  created  the  Convention 
and  its  international  agent  of  supervision  and  extension.  As 
part  of  that  extension  the  intercollegiate  Student  Movement 
was  developed.  The  city  organization  still  bulks  largest  in 
its  membership,  employed  officers,  working  committees  and 
property,  and  in  the  variety  and  dimensions  of  its  work.  But 
all  this  growth  at  home  and  abroad  has  been  ministered  to 
by  the  strong  development  of  its  North  American  Student 
Movement.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Movement, 
including  the  World's  Student  Federation,  and  the  Foreign 
Department  of  the  International  Committee,  with  its  200  Sec- 
retaries strategically  located  in  the  non-Christian  world,  pos- 
sesses commanding  features  of  solidarity  throughout  the  world 
in  the  personnel  of  its  leaders  and  in  its  api)eal  to  the  class  in 
each  country  which  is  most  influential. 

The  best  work,  therefore,  is  being  accomplished  where  the 
City  Association  Movement  is  vitally  related  to  the  Student 
and  where  in  its  turn  the  Student  Department  has  freedom  to 
develop  that  part  of  the  leadership  which  it  is  fitted  to  provide 
for  the  whole  brotherhood,  composed  of  all  classes  of  young 
men. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

CONNECTION  WITH  RAILROAD  AND  OTHER  FORMS 
OF  ASSOCIATION  WORK 

The  Railroad  Work,  Local  and  International 

With  Railroad  Association  Work  I  became  identified  in 
1872  at  Cleveland,  soon  after  its  beginning  in  that  city.  Of  the 
early  cooperation  in  that  city  of  President  James  H.  Devereux 
and  of  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  Jr.,  as  treasurer  of  the  Harlem 
division  of  the  New  York  Central,  and  also  of  the  opening  of 
an  Association  Reading  Room  in  the  Grand  Central  Station 
in  1875  an  account  has  already  been  given. ^ 

Before  the  International  Committee  was  able  in  1877  to  place 
an  International  Railroad  Secretary  in  the  field,  Cornelius 
Vanderbilt  had  consented  to  be  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
of  Management  of  the  Railroad  Branch  in  New  York  City — 
a  position  industriously  filled  by  him  until  his  death  in  1900. 
During  this  period  of  over  twenty  years,  as  recording  secre- 
tary of  this  committee,  I  kept  in  intimate  touch  with  this 
efficient  local  Railroad  Work  as  carried  on  and  supported  by 
both  employers  and  employes.  The  exemplary  character  of 
the  work  was  due  to  the  careful  and  thorough  supervision  and 
generous  support  of  the  Chairman.  During  this  entire  period 
he  attended  every  committee  meeting  and  interested  other 
officials  who  cooperated  with  and  succeeded  him.  The  reports 
from  month  to  month  he  vigilantly  scrutinized,  and  he  presided 
also  at  every  anniversary  meeting. 

At  first  he  did  not  appreciate  the  need  of  a  qualified  local 
Secretary.  But  during  the  third  year  he  asked  for  "the  best 
man  that  could  be  found,"  and  this  capable  man,  in  the  person 
of  Orlin  R.  Stockwell,  undertook  (May,  1878)  a  position  which 
was  of  critical  value  and  importance  to  the  whole  movement. 
As  long  as  he  lived,  Stockwell  was  the  leader  among  our 
Railroad  Secretaries.  From  him  in  1881  at  London,  the 
World's  Conference  heard  its  first  report  of  Association  work 

iPp.  112-15.  151-2. 

390 


RAILROAD  AND  OTHER  ASSOCIATION  WORK  391 

among  railroad  meu.  By  his  suddeu  death,  two  years  after- 
ward, the  Railroad  Association  Secretaries  suffered  one  of 
the  most  serious  losses  they  have  ever  sustained. 

As  the  chairman  became  satisfied  of  the  excellence  of  the 
work,  he  was  ready  to  join  heartily  with  Morris  K.  Jesup, 
the  member  of  the  International  Committee  who  from  the 
beginning  had  taken  a  deep  practical  interest  in  promoting 
its  extension  bej^ond  New  York  City.  When  an  International 
Railroad  Secretary  was  urgently  called  for,  both  these  in- 
fluential friends  cooperated  in  the  Committee's  endeavor 
(1877)  even  before  Vanderbilt  was  willing  to  seek  a  local 
Railroad  Secretary  for  the  work  at  the  Grand  Central  Station. 
In  securing  for  the  Committee  the  amount  needed  for  this  new 
Secretary,  Edwin  D.  Ingersoll,  Vanderbilt  helped  to  secure 
equal  help  from  his  father,  from  President  Thomas  Scott,  of 
the  Pennsylvania,  and  John  W.  Garrett,  of  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  systems.  In  securing  this  support  from  these  railroad 
presidents  it  was  the  close  and  vigilant  relation  of  Cornelius 
Vanderbilt,  Jr.,  to  the  work  at  the  Grand  Central,  and  else- 
where, that  was  the  consideration  that  won  their  confidence. 
To  him  from  the  beginning  Secretary  Ingersoll  reported  on  his 
return  from  each  tour  of  supervision  and  extension.  In  1879 
Cornelius  Vanderbilt  became  a  member  of  the  International 
Committee. 

During  this  early  period  another  influential  friend  and 
counselor  was  William  Thaw,  organizer  and  Vice-President  of 
the  Pennsylvania  lines  west  of  Pittsburgh.  He  was  willing 
to  be  quoted  as  believing  it  "a  work  wholly  good  both  for  the 
men  and  the  roads  they  serve."  He  was  among  its  most  gen- 
erous supporters  and  in  times  of  emergency  never  failed  to 
give  help  where  it  was  most  needed.  Since  his  death  thirty 
years  ago,  members  of  his  family  have  continued  generous 
annual  contributions  to  the  Committee's  treasury. 

The  First  Tico  Railroad  Conferences,  1877  and  1879 

The  calling  and  guidance  of  the  first  two  Railroad  Confer- 
ences the  Committee  entrusted  to  its  General  Secretary. 
Various  types  of  local  work  in  many  states  were  reported  by 
the  delegates  of  the  first  Conference  at  Cleveland  (1877)  and 
the  second  (1879)  at  Altoona.    It  was  an  experimental  period, 


392  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

and  the  most  serious  experiment  was  tried  by  the  parent 
Association  at  Cleveland.  In  a  conference  with  President 
Devereux  at  his  request,  I  learned  that  the  friends  in  Cleveland 
desired  to  make  trial  of  an  organization  separated  from  the 
Association.  For  the  Committee  1  assured  him  there  was  no 
disposition  to  impede  such  an  experiment.  In  this  initial 
period  we  were  all  seeking  the  method  best  adapted  to  pro- 
mote the  interest  of  both  employe  and  employer.  The  con- 
clusion finally  reached  by  such  an  experiment  would  give  ad- 
ditional guarantee  of  the  correctness  of  our  conclusion.  The 
experiment  had  continued  for  about  a  year  (1877-8)  when 
President  Devereux  requested  a  second  interview  and  reported 
to  me  that  the  friends  in  Cleveland  had  become  satisfied  of  the 
wisdom  of  a  return  to  their  former  connection  with  the  Cleve- 
land Association.  A  similar  conclusion  was  reached  wherever 
the  work  was  most  efiicient  and  to  the  second  Conference 
(1879),  in  response  to  a  special  request.  Chairman  Vanderbilt 
wrote :  "While  the  Railroad  Associations  might  survive  a  sepa- 
ration from  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  yet  I  be- 
lieve such  a  step  would  be  a  great  misfortune.  It  seems  to  me 
very  fortunate  that  this  Railroad  Movement  is  under  the  care 
and  guidance  of  a  national  organization  in  fellowship  with  the 
best  elements  in  the  great  communion  of  churches  of  all  de- 
nominations. For  years  I  have  felt  the  deepest  interest  in  the 
work  and  believe  its  value  and  importance  can  hardly  be  over- 
estimated, both  to  the  men  and  to  the  companies  in  whose 
service  they  are  employed."  As  I  quote  these  words,  they  re- 
call vividly  an  oi)inion  and  estimate  concerning  the  writer  of 
them  once  given  to  me  by  his  successor  as  head  of  the  Inter- 
national Committee's  Railroad  Department,  Colonel  John  J. 
McCook,  who  said :  "Cornelius  Vanderbilt's  strongest  claim  to 
be  remembered  and  honored  as  a  railroad  capitalist  and  presi- 
dent will  be,  I  believe,  the  giving  of  his  influence  and  service 
to  the  development  of  this  Railroad  Association  work." 

First  Thirteen  Years  of  Supervision,  1877-1889 

At  Altoona  in  1879,  decided  progress  was  reported  and  six- 
teen local  Railroad  Secretaries  were  then  on  the  roll.  Secre- 
tary Edwin  D.  Ingersoll  continued  his  arduous  work  until  in 
1887  the  condition  of  his  health  compelled  him  to  resign.    His 


RAILROAD  AND  OTHER  ASSOCIATION  WORK  393 

successor,  Heury  F.  Williams,  was  joined  for  a  time  by  Cecil 
L.  Gates,  until  the  close  of  1889.  At  the  end  of  these  thirteen 
years  of  supervision  there  were  in  1890  nearly  100  Secretaries 
and  assistants  employed  by  82  Railroad  Associations  or 
branches  and  the  current  expenses  amounted  to  a  little  over 
1120,000.  This  growth  had  been  accomplished  during  a  period 
marked  by  varied  experiments,  at  many  points,  and  by  a  solid 
permanent  development  of  several  local  organizations.  Most 
prominent  among  these  were  the  two  established  on  the  New 
York  Central  in  New  York  City,  and  the  Pennsylvania  system 
in  Philadelphia. 

In  1887,  after  eleven  years  of  careful  supervision,  Cornelius 
Vanderbilt,  who  had  become  President  of  the  New  York  Central 
System,  was  so  satisfied  as  to  the  permanently  useful  charac- 
ter of  the  work,  that  he  planned  and  erected  for  it  in  the 
railroad  yards  near  the  Grand  Central  Station,  at  a  cost  of 
1180,000,  a  completely  equipped  Association  building  for  the 
use  of  the  employes.  Though  generously  planned,  it  was  in  a 
few  years  (1894)  so  overcrowded,  that  to  accommodate  the 
enlarging  work,  it  was  nearly  doubled  in  size  by  the  donor. 

Parallel  with  this  experience  in  New  York  was  the  growth 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Branch  in  Philadelphia.  At  this 
headquarters  of  the  system  President  George  B.  Roberts  and 
other  oflBcials  cooperated  in  the  erection  of  a  building  in  1894, 
the  size  of  which  was  speedily  doubled,  because  of  the  ap- 
preciation of  the  good  work  accomplished  by  a  capable  manage- 
ment and  secretarial  force.  Efficiency  and  achievement  at  iso- 
lated local  centers  during  this  initial  period  was  what  gave 
the  real  promise  of  permanent  usefulness  to  Association  Rail- 
road Work. 

Local  efficiency  wherever  attained  pointed  clearly  to  the 
need  of  a  wider  success,  which  could  be  obtained  only  by  estab- 
lishing the  work  at  all  desirable  points  along  the  line  of  each 
railroad  system.  During  1890-91  the  two  International  Rail- 
road Secretaries  had  secured  opportunity  to  establish  a  line 
of  fifteen  connecting  Railroad  Associations  on  the  Union 
Pacific  road.  A  sudden  change  in  the  management  of  that 
system  prevented  completion  of  the  experiment.  A  more  suc- 
cessful attempt,  however,  was  soon  to  be  made  elsewhere. 

In  this  early  period,  what  was  being  accomplished  among 


394  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

railroad  men  suggested  similar  Christian  welfare  work  for 
men  of  other  industrial  classes,  notably  miners  and  lumber- 
men, a  forecast  of  the  Industrial  Department.^ 

The  Era  of  Expansion,  1890-1916 

By  reason  of  the  good  work  of  his  predecessors  Secretary 
Clarence  J.  Hicks  came  to  the  leadership  of  the  Kailroad  Work 
at  a  time  of  opportunity  for  unexampled  progress,  and  he 
proved  fully  equal  to  improving  this  opportunity.  The  estab- 
lishment of  the  work  at  the  divisional  points  of  an  entire  sys- 
tem he  began  and  successfully  achieved  on  the  Chesapeake 
and  Ohio,  with  the  cordial  support  of  President  M.  E.  Ingalls 
and  his  successor,  President  George  W.  Stevens.  In  the  be- 
ginning of  his  service  in  this  department  he  had  part  time 
help  of  a  fellow  Secretary,  but  at  the  end  of  his  twenty-one 
years  of  leadership  he  had  a  staff  of  nine  International  Sec- 
retaries— all  of  his  own  careful  selection — two  of  whom,  John 
F.  Moore  and  Fred  B.  Shipp,  proved  equal  to  succeeding  him — 
one  as  head  of  the  Kailroad  Work,  and  the  other  virtually  as 
Associate  General  Secretary  of  the  Committee.^  During  this 
period  the  number  of  local  Eailroad  Secretaries  increased  from 
113  to  518,  the  budget  of  annual  expenses  of  all  the  Kailroad 
branches  and  Associations  from  |136,000  to  over  |1, 000,000 
at  230  railroad  terminal  and  divisional  points.  Of  this  annual 
expenditure  at  the  beginning,  the  railroad  management  had 
supplied  60  per  cent  and  the  employes  40  per  cent,  but  in  1912 
this  proportion  had  been  reversed,  the  employes  giving  60 
per  cent  and  the  employers  40  per  cent. 

One  interesting  outgrowth  of  the  system  plan,  fully  de- 
veloped under  Secretary  Moore,  is  seen  in  the  New  York 
Central  Federation,  composed  of  more  than  forty  Kailroad 
Associations  or  branches  upon  that  system,  and  located  in 
eight  different  states  and  provinces. 

Another  outstanding  recent  event  was  a  Continental  Mem- 
bership Campaign,  carefully  planned  and  led  by  Secretary 
Moore  and  his  associates,  in  which  the  Kailroad  Associations 
by  a  united  effort  in  ten  days  of  November,  11)16,  enrolled  38,.550 
new  members,  thus  increasing  their  total  membership  to  123,- 

» p.  396. 

•Pp.  498,  506,  613. 


RAILROAD  AND  OTHER  ASSOCIATION  WORK  395 

000.  It  was  only  in  the  twenty-ninth  year  ( 11)00 j  of  this  move- 
ment that  our  continental  railroad  brotherhood  was  able  to 
enrol  a  total  of  38,000  members. 

Secretary  Moore,  by  a  tour  in  the  Far  P^ast,  has  prepared 
the  way  for  the  extension  of  the  Association  Kailroad  Work 
and  methods  to  the  government  railways  of  Japan  and  China. 
A  good  beginning  of  this  extension  has  already  been  accom- 
plished. 

The  Industrial  Department 

Beginnings  in  Wisconsin  and  Pennsylvania 

Early  in  the  development  of  Railroad  Association  Work 
some  of  the  workers  were  impressed  with  the  suggestion  it  con- 
tained of  similar  work  among  the  men  of  other  industrial 
classes.  For  eight  years  (1879-1880)  the  Railroad  Branch  Sec- 
retary in  Toronto  was  George  E.  Burford,  who  had  been  a 
miner  and  a  blacksmith.  At  his  forge  and  in  the  light  of  it 
he  had  studied  Hebrew  and  Greek,  that  he  might  read  and 
study  his  Bible  in  the  original  languages.  As  an  efficient 
leader  in  Railroad  Work  he  appreciated  how  such  a  work  and 
organization  might  be  equally  serviceable  to  miners.  At  this 
period  the  Associations  of  Wisconsin  rejoiced  in  their  first 
State  Secretary,  William  E.  Lewis,  of  whom  it  was  justly  said : 
"His  name  is  a  synonym  among  Association  men  throughout 
the  continent  for  strength,  clearness  of  judgment,  and  power 
with  God  and  men."  Burford  and  his  qualification  for  work 
among  miners  were  called  to  the  attention  of  Lewis.  This 
resulted  in  Burford's  withdrawing  in  1880  from  railroad  serv- 
ice and  undertaking  Association  work  among  the  iron  miners 
of  the  Gogebic  range,  where  he  served  zealously  and  effectively 
until  his  sudden  death  in  1887.  Of  him  Lewis  testifies:  "In 
the  past  ten  years  he  has  done  more  work  for  the  Master  than 
most  men  do  in  twice  that  time."  He  was  succeeded  by  another 
successful  worker,  John  L.  Graham. 

In  Wisconsin,  also  under  Lewis,  as  early  as  1882  Association 
work  among  the  forty  thousand  lumbermen  then  in  that  state 
was  carried  on  for  five  ^ears  by  lumbermen's  Secretary  Knud- 
son,  who  secured  as  an  assistant  Secretary  Leimkueller.  In 
this  work  in  the  forests  a  tent  was  used  by  the  Secretaries. 
In  1886  the  cost  of  this  work  was  |1,609,  and  in  1890  it  was 


396  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

enlarged.  'Twenty  men  could  be  employed  if  only  the  money 
needed  could  be  secured."  In  1891  it  was  pronounced  by  the 
International  Committee's  corresponding  member  for  Wiscon- 
sin ''work  in  an  unequalled  home  missionary  field,  prospering 
under  three  Secretaries." 

These  Secretaries  were  on  the  stafif  of  the  State  Committee. 
But  the  work  does  not  seem  to  have  been  permanently  estab- 
lished— as  was  the  Railroad  Work — at  local  centers  with  local 
Secretaries  and  adequate  equipment. 

Edwin  D.  Ingersoll,  First  International  Railroad  Secretary, 
reports  in  1887 : 

"There  has  been  forced  upon  my  mind  the  practicability  of 
a  work  for  and  by  miners  of  coal,  iron,  copper,  silver,  and 
gold.  A  Railway  Secretary  of  eight  years'  successful  experi- 
ence who  was  once  a  miner  (G.  E.  Burford)  is  now  on  the 
Wisconsin  Committee's  stafif  in  charge  of  work  for  miners." 

At  this  time  in  a  conversation  with  a  leading  official  of  the 
Pennsylvania  system  Ingersoll  was  asked :  "Why  isn't  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  doing  something  for  the 
coal  miners  in  Pennsylvania?  There  are  many  thousands 
(400,000)  of  them  and  they  need  help  as  much  as  railroad 
men."  This  question  in  1887  led  Ingersoll  to  a  conference  with 
Pennsylvania  State  Secretary  Taggart.  It  was  agreed  to  begin 
at  once  at  Pittston,  a  large  mining  community  in  the  anthracite 
belt.  For  ten  years  (1887-1897)  Secretary  Thomas  Thorburn, 
serving  first  at  Pittston,  then  on  the  state  force  and  later  at 
Sharpsburg,  cooperated  with  associates  on  the  state  staff  in 
a  work  among  anthracite  coal  miners  of  that  region.  From  the 
beginning  the  coal  companies  contributed  support.  In  the 
following  decade  (1897-1907)  the  work  was  extended  into  sur- 
rounding counties  with  Thorburn  as  County  Secretary,  until 
in  1907  with  a  staff  of  six  Secretaries,  2,000  members  had  been 
enlisted  in  22  communities  and  a  similar  work  was  started 
by  the  State  Committee  in  the  bituminous  coal  belt  of  Western 
Pennsylvania. 

The  International  Industrial  Department 

Besides  these  extensions  of  Association  work  among  lumber- 
men and  miners  in  Wisconsin  and  Pennsylvania,  similar  at- 
tempts among  these  and  other  industrial  classes  were  prob- 


RAILROAD  AND  OTHER  ASSOCIATION  WORK  397 

ably  undertaken  before  1903.  But  in  that  year  an  industrial 
department  of  the  International  Committee  was  urgently 
called  for,  and  Charles  C.  Michener,  who  since  1S05  had  been 
on  the  student  and  then  on  the  field  staff  of  the  Committee, 
accepted  appointment  as  the  first  Secretary  of  this  new  de- 
partment. For  several  years  under  his  leadership  the  field 
was  studied  and  some  opportunities  of  extension  improved. 

Marcellus  Hartley  Dodge,  the  chairman  of  the  industrial 
sub-committee,  became  deeply  interested  in  greatly  enlarging 
this  Industrial  Work,  and  in  1906,  when  Michener  resigned  to 
enter  another  important  field  of  Christian  effort,  Mr.  Dodge 
sought  a  successor  with  unusual  solicitude.  It  was  not  diffi- 
cult to  name  to  him  the  Railroad  Secretary  on  whom  all  of  us 
who  were  taken  into  counsel  agreed  as  the  man  preeminently  fit 
for  the  position — Charles  R.  Towson,  then  Secretary  of  the 
Railroad  Branch  of  the  Philadelphia  Association.  But  it 
was  because  Mr.  Dodge  came  into  full  sympathy  with  Secretary 
Towson's  wider  vision  of  the  field  and  the  opportunity  it  pre- 
sented that  the  Committee's  call  to  him  was  accepted  and  Asso- 
ciation work  among  the  industrial  classes  received  a  leadership 
and  extension  which  was  realized  as  of  first  importance  within 
the  membership  and  activity  of  the  city  Associations.  In  this 
city  field  are  to  be  found  the  great  majority  of  industrial 
workers  and  the  strongest  group  of  local  Associations.  Soon 
the  industrial  membership  of  these  city  Associations  was 
doubled. 

Under  Towson's  initiative  also,  special  attention  was 
directed  by  a  special  Secretary,  Dr.  Peter  Roberts,  to  work  on 
behalf  of  non-English-speaking  immigrants,  beginning  at  the 
ports  of  embarkation  and  following  them  in  transit  from  the 
port  of  arrival  to  their  destination  where  the  local  Association 
can  minister  to  them.  This  involved  the  service  of  special 
Secretaries  at  European  and  North  American  ports  of  depart- 
ure and  arrival.  In  crossing  the  Atlantic  in  1910  and  1911 
one  of  my  errands  was  to  cooperate  with  one  of  our  Industrial 
Department  Secretaries,  John  Sumner,  in  his  care  for  the 
emigrant  at  the  European  ports  of  departure. 

Among  undergraduate  students  in  scientific  and  engineer- 
ing schools  are  to  be  found  the  future  engineers  under  whose 
direction  these  immigrants  are  to  be  placed.     Beginning  at 


398  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Yale,  undergraduate  students  in  engineering  were  enlisted  in 
forms  of  service  among  industrial  workers  within  their  reach, 
and  industrial  service  by  students  was  soon  developed  in  some 
fifty  colleges. 

Following  the  precedent  and  methods  of  the  Railroad  De- 
partment, employers  and  employes  have  been  united  in  suc- 
cessful Association  work  among  coal  and  metal  miners,  in 
mill  villages,  quarries,  lumber  camps,  and  saw  mill  towns. 
At  these  industrial  centers  already  (1917)  over  a  hundred 
Associations  are  maintained  by  joint  support  of  employers  and 
employes.  There  is  promise  of  an  indefinitely  wide  extension 
of  this  work,  limited  only  by  the  supply  of  laymen  and  Secre- 
taries of  strong  Christian  spirit  and  leadership.  Among  the 
most  promising  fields  where  good  progress  is  being  made  are 
cotton  mill  centers  and  villages. 

The  Association  and  the  Clubhouse 

The  extension  of  the  Railroad  Work  and  of  the  Industrial 
Department,  which  is  an  outgrowth  of  it,  has  been  steady  and 
aggressive.  During  all  the  five  decades  of  this  growth  a  ques- 
tion has  been  raised  among  both  employers  and  employes  re- 
garding the  comparative  merits  of  the  Association  building 
and  the  clubhouse.  The  influence  and  work  each  represents 
have  been  strongly  contrasted.  Both  aim  to  furnish  the  em- 
ploye with  a  place  of  resort  during  his  leisure  time,  which  shall 
serve  as  a  substitute  for  demoralizing  resorts.  The  clubhouse 
is  wholly  provided  by  the  employer  and  furnished  to  the  men 
for  their  use  and  accommodation.  It  has  no  connection  or 
affiliation  with  any  agency  or  brotherhood  outside  the  rail- 
road or  industry.  The  Association  building,  while  it  may 
be  provided  by  the  employer,  accommodates  an  organization 
of  the  employes  in  which  the  employer  cooperates  and  which 
is  a  part  of  the  Association  brotherhood.  In  the  words  of 
Cornelius  Vanderbilt :  "It  seems  very  fortunate  that  this  Rail- 
road Movement  is  under  the  care  and  guidance  of  a  national 
organization  in  fellowship  with  the  best  elements  in  the  great 
communion  of  churches  of  all  denominations." 

The  moral  and  religious  character  of  the  Association  is  pro- 
nounced. The  work  is  under  the  strong  leadership  of  a  class 
of  Christian  workers — Railroad  and  Industrial  Secretaries — 


RAILROAD  AND  OTHER  ASSOCIATION  WORK  399 

who  make  its  activities  their  life  work.  As  a  group  of  Chris- 
tian fellow-workers  these  Secretaries  have  grown  from  a  few 
in  1872  to  over  five  hundred.  There  has  been  a  growth  in  the 
qualifications  of  the  men  as  well  as  in  their  number.  These 
workere  have  been  encouraged  and  their  work  has  been  fostered 
on  the  one  hand  by  the  Association  brotherhood  and  its  agen- 
cies of  promotion  and  on  the  other  hand  by  a  growing  group 
of  leading  men  in  railroad  management,  beginning  with  James 
H.  Devereux,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  William  Thaw,  Thomas 
Scott,  George  B.  Roberts,  A.  J.  Cassatt,  M.  E.  Ingalls,  George 
Stevens,  Samuel  Rea,  and  E.  P.  Ripley.  Among  the  industrial 
leaders  who  have  promoted  this  branch  of  Association  work 
are  Governor  Procter  of  Vermont,  Thomas  F.  and  Lewis  Parker 
of  the  Cotton  Industry ;  R.  A.  Long,  the  Weyerhaussers,  George 
S.  Gardner  of  the  lumber  industry,  and  others  among  the  metal, 
coal,  and  other  mining  industries.  In  the  fifth  decade  (1017) 
of  its  steady  growth,  the  work  has  wider  and  stronger  support 
from  railroad  and  industrial  men  and  management  than  at  any 
previous  time.  The  clubhouse  and  other  more  secular  or  less 
religious  agencies  continue  to  enlist  advocates  and  jjromoters. 
But  while  the  Association  work  often  succeeds  the  clubhouse 
and  its  allies  and  takes  their  place  acceptably,  the  reverse 
of  this  almost  never  occurs  in  the  experience  of  the  Associa- 
tion Railroad  and  Industrial  Departments.  Whenever  genuine 
cooperation  between  the  railroad  or  industrial  men  and  the 
management  has  been  secured  with  a  competent  Secretary  to 
command  and  develop  this  cooperation,  success  has  followed. 

But  not  yet  hate  enough  qualified  men  given  their  lives  to 
this  important  work  or  received  training  for  it.  The  enlistment 
of  management  and  men,  therefore,  on  different  railroad  and 
industrial  systems  has  been  very  unequal.  At  divisional 
terminals  on  the  same  railroad  system,  unequal  support  as  yet 
has  been  secured  from  both  men  and  management.  But  the 
steady  increase  in  the  number  of  qualified  Christian  workers 
giving  their  lives  to  the  work  promises  a  steady  growth  of 
cooperation  by  management  and  men  in  promoting  the  wel- 
fare of  all  employes  of  lower  and  higher  rank  in  the  realm 
of  the  railroad  and  other  industries.  The  Association's  pri- 
mary aim  to  develop  Christian  character  is  its  strongest  claim 
to  consideration  and  preference  by  employer  and  employe.    In 


400  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

many  instances  men  in  the  management  and  among  the  em- 
ployes who  have  become  our  strongest  friends,  felt  in  the  begin- 
ning that  the  Association  emphasis  on  religious  and  moral 
character  was  an  impediment  to  success.  Experiment  and 
experience  led  them  to  find  in  this  feature  the  secret  of  what- 
ever success  has  been  achieved. 

In  1916,  Railroad  and  Industrial  Associations  were  occupy- 
ing in  their  work  over  three  hundred  buildings  valued  at  over 
eight  million  dollars.  Their  current  expense  budget  aggregated 
nearly  three  million  dollars.  Of  this  current  expense  more 
than  half  was  given  by  the  employes  in  this  joint  undertaking 
by  them  and  their  employers. 

Work  Among  Colored  Young  Men 
Beginnings  of  this  Work 

Before  the  Civil  War  and  the  emancipation  of  the  negro, 
as  early  as  1853  there  is  record  of  an  Association  of  colored 
young  men  in  Washington,  D.  C.  During  its  life  Secretary 
Anthony  Bowen  was  a  fellow  employe  of  Secretary  Wm. 
Chauncy  Langdon  in  the  government  oflQces  in  Washington. 
Soon  after  the  war,  during  the  reconstruction  period,  18G5-7G, 
a  short-lived  colored  Association  was  formed  in  New  York 
City.  It  was  independent  of  the  New  York  City  Association, 
but  was  fostered  and  promoted  for  several  years  (1866-71)  by 
a  committee  of  that  Association.  It  was  represented  by  its 
President  E.  V.  C.  Eato,  at  the  International  Convention  of 
1867,  and  at  more  than  one  of  the  New  York  State  Conventions. 
The  cause  of  its  dissolution  was  a  lack  of  interdenominational 
tolerance  and  comity  among  the  colored  churches  of  the  period. 

So  many  of  these  early  Associations  had  been  formed  in 
South  Carolina  before  1873  that  a  State  Convention  met  com- 
posed of  delegates  from  their  members.  At  its  third  annual 
meeting  in  1872,  ten  Associations  were  represented  by  twenty- 
one  delegates.  The  survivor  among  these  Associations  was  the 
one  at  Charleston,  formed  in  1866.  With  its  Secretary,  Henry- 
W.  Thomas,  as  early  as  1870  I  began  correspondence  as  editor 
of  the  Association  Monthly,  and  received  copies  of  the  pam- 
phlet reports  of  a  South  Carolina  Convention  of  Negro  Asso- 
ciations. 


RAILROAD  AND  OTHER  ASSOCIATION  WORK  401 

A  few  years  later,  during  my  first  tour  in  the  South,  I 
stopped  at  Columbia,  S.  C,  to  call  upon  a  college  classmate, 
Daniel  Henry  Chamberlain.  During  the  Civil  War  he  had 
served  as  an  oflScer  in  a  negro  regiment,  and  after  graduating 
at  the  Harvard  Law  School  had  begun  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession in  Charleston,  S,  C,  and  became  a  leader  in  the  recon- 
struction movement  in  that  state.  He  was  now  (1874)  At- 
torney General  and  soon  to  be  elected  Governor.  No  white  As- 
sociation had  been  formed  in  Columbia,  and  my  only  errand 
was  one  of  personal  friendship.  As  I  was  passing  in  my  friend's 
company  through  one  of  the  public  buildings,  I  noticed  a  large 
glass  door,  on  which  were  painted  the  words  "Colored  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association."  I  paused  to  enter,  but  was  as- 
sured that  some  time  ago  the  organization  had  ceased  to  exist. 

As  elsewhere  mentioned,  another  incident  of  this  tour  was 
a  visit  to  Richmond,  which  led  to  the  calling  to  that  city  dur- 
ing the  following  year  (1875)  of  the  first  International  Con- 
vention held  at  the  South  after  the  Civil  War.  To  this  Con- 
vention there  came  from  the  Howard  University  Association 
the  first  negro  student  delegate  to  attend  an  International 
Convention,  Robert  T.  Wheeler.  The  Chairman  of  the  Cre- 
dential Committee  had  been  a  major  in  the  Union  Army,  and 
from  him  and  his  associate,  an  ex-Confederate  army  officer  and 
now  a  citizen  of  Richmond,  the  colored  student  received  his 
credential  ticket  as  a  delegate.  The  Association  at  Howard 
University  had  been  formed  in  18G9,  and  like  the  younger  City 
Association  formed  at  Charleston  in  186G,  it  has  continued  the 
work  without  break  from  the  date  of  its  early  origin.  A  gradu- 
ate of  this  university,  James  E.  Moorland,  became  in  189G  the 
second  Colored  Secretary  of  the  International  Committee. 

At  this  Richmond  Convention,  the  President,  Major  Joseph 
Hardie  of  Selma,  with  much  feeling  announced  a  message  from 
the  negro  pastors  of  the  city  asking  prayer  on  behalf  of  negro 
young  men  and  Association  work  among  them.  This  was 
devoutly  responded  to. 

An  International  Secretary  for  Work  among  Colored  Young 
Men 

Major  Hardie  continued  deeply  interested  in  Association 
work  on  behalf  of  these  young  men  at  the  South.    The  follow- 


402  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

ing  year,  as  a  delegate  to  the  Convention  at  Toronto,  he  made  a 
plea  for  a  fund  to  sustain  an  International  Secretary  for  work 
among  colored  young  men.  Dr.  Stuart  Robinson  of  Louisville 
strongly  seconded  this  appeal,  and  offered  to  be  the  first  sub- 
scribei  to  the  fund  for  this  purpose.  Immediately  upon  this 
suggestion  $700  was  offered  on  the  floor  of  the  Convention. 
George  Williams,  who  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  attend  this 
meeting,  subscribed  flOO  to  the  fund  and  it  was  completed 
after  the  Convention. 

From  the  beginning  the  Committee  sought  and  were  guided 
in  this  work  by  Major  Hardie,  Captain  Lovelace  of  Marion, 
Ala.,  and  other  friends  in  the  South,  with  whom  the  work  had 
originated.  For  the  first  year  General  George  D.  Johnston, 
a  Confederate  veteran,  as  the  Committee's  Secretary,  explored 
and  reported  upon  this  field.  After  an  interval  of  careful  con- 
sideration by  Major  Hardie  and  his  associates,  Henry  E. 
Brown  was  chosen  as  a  successor  to  Johnston.  While  a  stu- 
dent at  Oberlin  University,  Henry  Brown  had  been  deeply 
moved  by  the  prayer  of  President  Charles  G.  Finney  for  the 
colored  people,  offered  at  a  solemn  service  held  in  Oberlin  at 
the  time  of  the  assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  This  led 
him  to  devote  himself  to  work  on  behalf  of  that  race.  At 
Talladega,  Alabama,  not  far  from  the  home  of  Hardie,  he 
bad  founded  and  for  six  years  conducted  a  school  for  colored 
youth,  known  as  a  college,  and  had  become  acquainted  with 
the  negro  race,  as  students,  servants,  laborers,  mechanics, 
teachers,  preachers,  and  neighbors.  In  this  work,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  American  Missionary  Association,  he  had  won  the 
confidence  of  the  people  of  both  races  in  that  neighborhood, 
and  on  the  basis  of  this  confidence  he  was  appointed  the  Com- 
mittee's Secretary. 

In  patient  study  and  effort  he  did  a  pioneer  work  among 
students  in  the  negro  schools  and  colleges,  and  in  a  few  years 
he  could  report  that  in  two- thirds  of  the  forty  colored  schools 
Associations  had  been  established.  In  1888  he  reported  for 
the  first  time  a  city  Association  in  operation  with  a  negro 
Secretary,  Wm.  A.  Hunton,  located  at  Norfolk,  Va.  This  able 
Secretary  had  been  found  by  the  International  Railroad  Sec- 
retary, Edwin  D.  Ingersoll,  in  Ottawa,  Canada.  He  was  hold- 
ing a  good  position  in  the  government  offices,  highly  esteemed 


RAILROAD  AND  OTHER  ASSOCIATION  WORK  403 

as  an  active  member  of  the  Ottawa  Association  and  also  as  a 
valued  teacher  of  one  of  its  Bible  classes. 

An  International  Colored  Secretary 

In  1890  Hunton  succeeded  Brown  as  International  Secretary 
for  the  Colored  Work  of  the  Committee,  and  in  1897  he  re- 
ported 19  city  and  41  college  Associations,  with  seven  colored 
General  Secretaries.  The  following  year  the  Committee  was 
able  to  give  him  a  sorely  needed  assistant  and  associate  in 
Dr.  James  E.  Moorland,  a  graduate  of  Howard  University. 
During  these  twenty-one  years  and  many  that  followed,  the 
supervision  and  extension  of  Association  work  among  colored 
men  was  wholly  entrusted  to  the  International  Committee  and 
its  staff.  In  1916  the  Virginia  State  Committee  was  the  first 
state  organization  to  place  on  its  staff  a  colored  Secretary  for 
work  among  the  young  men  of  his  race. 

In  no  department,  during  this  period,  had  the  Committee 
been  so  greatly  in  need  of  an  increase  of  its  staff,  and  in  none 
was  I  more  disappointed  with  the  result  of  efforts  to  secure 
this  enlargement.  But  progress  in  the  work,  though  slow,  was 
steadily  maintained  from  Convention  to  Convention. 

A  Period  of  Enlargement 

The  period  of  enlargement  long  and  ardently  hoped  for  in 
the  last  century,  was  deferred  until  the  second  decade — (1910- 
15 j — of  the  present  century.  It  then  developed  within  our 
Student  Movement  at  the  South  and  within  the  City  Associa- 
tion Movement  at  Chicago.  The  Senior  Southern  Student  Sec- 
retary of  the  Committee,  Dr.  W.  D.  Weatherford,  for  many 
years  had  given  occasional  cooperation  to  his  colored  fellow 
Secretaries,  Hunton  and  Moorland.  In  1910  he  wrote  and 
published  a  book  entitled  ''Negro  Life  in  the  South,"  chiefly 
designed  for  the  use  and  study  of  undergraduate  white  stu- 
dents in  that  section.  During  the  college  year  1910-11  over 
four  thousand  students  studied  this  book,  and,  as  a  result, 
unprecedented  fellowship  between  the  students  of  both  races 
was  realized.  The  following  year  a  yet  larger  number  engaged 
in  the  study.  In  further  promotion  of  this  movement,  three 
members  of  the  Committee,  Cleveland  H.  Dodge,  Norman  W. 
Harris,  and  George  W.  Perkins,  offered  a  large  part  of  a  "Race 


404  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Eelationship  Fund"  of  |10,000  to  be  given  annually  for  five 
years  1910-15.  This  enabled  the  Committee,  with  other  gifts, 
to  secure  for  Dr.  Weatherford  helpers  in  the  Student  Work, 
and  to  increase  the  staff  of  the  Colored  Department  from  two 
to  six  Secretaries. 

Meanwhile,  beginning  in  1911,  a  strong  reenforcement  came 
within  a  City  Association.  Julius  Rosenwald,  a  Hebrew  citi- 
zen of  Chicago,  made  the  very  generous  offer — good  for  five 
years — of  |25,000  to  any  and  every  city  in  the  United  States, 
in  which  was  raised  an  additional  sum  of  $75,000  toward  the 
purchase  of  land  and  the  erection  and  furnishing  of  a  colored 
Association  building,  at  a  total  cost  of  |100,000.  Chicago  was 
the  first  city  to  accept  this  offer  by  erecting  a  building  at  a 
cost  of  |200,000  of  which  Mr.  Rosenwald  and  two  other  citizens 
of  Chicago,  Cyrus  H.  McCormick  and  Norman  W.  Harris,  each 
gave  150,000.  Twelve  other  cities  accepted  Mr.  Rosenwald's 
offer  of  |25,000  and  in  1916  buildings  had  been  successfully 
erected  in  Washington,  D.  C,  Chicago,  Indianapolis,  Dayton, 
Philadelphia,  and  Cincinnati.  The  most  significant  gathering 
or  convention  assembled  during  this  five-year  period  of  prog- 
ress, was  the  Negro  Christian  Student  Convention  at  Atlanta, 
Ga.,  May,  1914,  presided  over  by  Dr.  John  R.  Mott.  In  this 
meeting,  to  G61  delegates  from  81  schools  and  colleges,  includ- 
ing 24  college  presidents,  were  vividly  presented  the  claims 
of  Christian  service  at  home  and  abroad.  In  this  growing  work 
the  Association  is  steadily  increasing  the  dimensions  and  value 
of  its  contribution  to  the  solution  of  the  negro  problem  in 
Church  and  State. 

North  American  Indian  Young  Men 

Early  in  the  year  1885  I  was  surprised  to  receive  by  mail 
a  photograph  of  a  group  of  Sioux  Indian  young  men.  It  was 
enclosed  in  a  communication  addressed  to  me  as  "The  Head 
of  the  Great  Thing  that  Is"  and  came  from  one  of  a  number 
of  KosTca  Okodakicye  or  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 
that  had  been  formed  in  a  few  of  the  missionai^y  churches  on 
various  Indian  reservations.  They  owed  their  origin,  some 
seven  years  before  this,  to  an  Indian  pastor  who  had  learned 
about  our  Associations  while  attending  school  at  Beloit,  Wis- , 
consin. 


RAILROAD  AND  OTHER  ASSOCIATION  WORK  405 

This  led  me,  on  behalf  of  the  Committee,  to  ask  the  State 
Secretary  of  Minnesota,  Henry  F.  Williams,  to  attend  in 
September,  1885,  as  our  representative,  the  annual  Indian  Mis- 
sionary Conference  or  Convention  held  that  year  near  the 
Sisseton  Agency  in  Dakota.  He  reported  to  us  the  existence 
of  eleven  Associations  on  the  various  Dakota  reservations. 
They  had  organized  without  waiting  for  a  constitution,  by 
adopting  "the  rules  of  Jesus,"  being  guided  chiefly  by  the 
first  chapter  of  John,  where  they  found  that  "one  man  who  had 
the  light  went  and  found  his  brother  who  was  in  darkness." 
Secretary  Williams  also  reported  that  the  desire  of  the  Indian 
young  men  for  affiliation  with  the  white  Associations  was 
shared  by  the  veteran  missionary,  Keverend  Alfred  L.  Kiggs, 
and  his  associates. 

An  immediate  result  of  this  effort  was  the  welcoming  of 
delegates  from  these  Associations  to  the  State  Conventions 
of  Minnesota  and  Dakota  and  the  listing  in  our  Year  Book 
for  1886  of  ten  Indian  Associations  with  159  members.  In 
1894  the  number  had  increased  to  twenty-five  with  698  mem- 
bers and  there  was  an  urgent  call  for  an  International  Indian 
Secretary.  In  response  to  this  call  Charles  K.  Ober,  in  co- 
operation with  the  Vice-President  of  our  Committee,  Thomas 
Cochran  of  St.  Paul,  succeeded  in  securing  the  support  needed 
for  this  new  work. 

The  Indian  Christian  worker  and  citizen  who  seemed  best 
qualified  for  this  task  was  a  member  of  the  Sioux  tribe,  Charles 
A.  Eastman,  M.D,,  of  St.  Paul.  The  site  of  his  great-grand- 
father's village  is  now  part  of  the  spacious  park  of  Minneapolis. 
During  his  first  fifteen  years  (1858-1873),  as  he  himself  tells 
us  in  the  interesting  story  of  his  life,^  he  was  "an  absolute  wild 
Indian,  trained  to  be  a  warrior  and  a  hunter,  with  a  reverent 
sense  of  a  pervading  presence  of  the  Spirit  and  Giver  of  Life, 
and  a  deep  consciousness  of  the  brotherhood  of  man."  Very 
happily,  in  his  first  contact  with  the  white  man  he  "missed  the 
demoralizing  influences  of  life  on  the  reservation,  and  was 
thrown  with  the  best  class  of  Christian  white  people,"  first 
at  the  Santee  agency  school  under  missionary  Alfred  L.  Riggs, 
who  became  "a  second  father"  to  him,  and  who  discerned 
clearly  the  bright  promise  of  this  Indian  pupil.    At  the  pre- 

*  "From  tbe  Deep  Woods  to  Civilization,"  pp.  1-13. 


406  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

paratory  departments  of  Beloit  and  Knox  colleges  he  fitted 
for  college  and  chose  the  medical  profession  as  the  path  in 
wliich  he  could  best  devote  his  life  to  the  welfare  and  elevation 
of  his  people.  At  Dartmouth,  because  "it  was  originally 
founded  as  a  school  for  Indian  youth,"  he  studied  and  gradu- 
ated in  the  class  of  1887.  At  the  medical  school  of  Boston 
University  (1887-1890)  he  received  his  professional  education. 

Then  followed  three  years  of  faithful  service  of  his  people 
as  government  physician  at  the  Pine  Ridge  Indian  agency. 
During  this  period  he  was  happilj'^  married  (June,  1891)  to 
Miss  Elaine  Goodale,  a  devoted  teacher  and  worker  among 
the  Indians,  who  had  begun  her  career  at  Hampton  Institute 
under  General  Armstrong  and  then  was  supervisor  of  Indian 
schools  in  Nebraska  and  the  Dakotas.  In  this  Pine  Ridge 
agency  for  the  first  time  Dr.  Eastman  came  in  touch  not 
only  with  "reservation  Indians"  but  with  the  relation  of  the 
government  authorities  to  them  and  discovered  the  presence 
and  influence  of  the  corrupt  politician.  Indignant  resistance 
on  his  part  followed  and  led  to  his  reluctant  withdrawal  in 
1893  from  the  agency,  "disillusioned  and  disgusted  and  realiz- 
ing the  helplessness  of  the  best  equipped  Indians  to  secure  a 
fair  deal  for  their  people." 

He  at  once  entered  upon  the  independent  practice  of  medi- 
cine in  St.  Paul,  thus  returning  after  thirty  years  of  exile  to 
the  land  of  his  nativity  and  the  home  of  his  ancestors.  He 
adds,  "I  had  been  bitterly  disappointed  in  the  character  of 
the  United  States  Army  and  the  honor  of  government  officials. 
Still  I  had  seen  the  better  side  of  civilization  and  I  determined 
that  the  good  Christian  men  and  women  who  had  helped  me 
should  not  be  betrayed.  The  Christ  ideal  might  be  radical,  even 
impractical,  it  still  seemed  to  me  logical  and  in  line  with  most 
of  my  Indian  training.  My  heart  was  still  strong  and  I  had 
the  continual  inspiration  of  a  brave  comrade  at  my  side."^ 

"We  were  slowly  gaining  ground  in  St.  Paul  when  one  day 
(in  1893)  a  stranger  called."  The  stranger  was  Charles  K. 
Ober,  who  urged  Dr.  Eastman's  acceptance  of  the  Committee's 
call  to  extend  the  Association  work  among  Indian  young  men. 
The  Doctor  adds:^  "We-^took  the  matter  under  consideration 


6  "From  the  Deep  Woods  to  Civilization,"  p.  138. 
6  Ibid.,  p.  UO. 


RAILROAD  AND  OTHER  ASSOCIATION  WORK  407 

and  with  some  reluctance  1  agreed  to  organize  the  field,  if 
meantime  they  would  educate  a  young  Indian  whom  I  would 
name  to  be  my  successor."  This  was  agreed  to.  Arthur  Tib- 
betts,  a  Sioux,  was  selected.  After  three  years'  study  he  was 
duly  graduated  at  the  Springfield  Secretarial  Training  School 
and  then  Dr.  Eastman  resigned  in  his  favor. 
In  his  report  to  the  Committee  Dr.  Eastman  says: 

"My  work  was  mostly  that  of  instructing,  interesting,  and 
explaining  Association  work  and  inducing  every  Association 
to  take  up  regular  Bible  study.  I  gave  special  attention  to 
training  leaders,  for  while  the  Indian  young  men  are  anxious 
to  take  hold  of  the  work,  the  great  drawback  is  the  lack  of 
competent  leaders;  and  the  great  need  is  of  practical  Bible 
study  and  men  capable  of  intelligent  Christian  service.  On  the 
reservations  the  Associations  can  supplement  what  the  Indian 
training  schools  at  Carlisle  and  elsewhere  accomplish  by  solv- 
ing the  problem  of  'the  returned  Indian  student'  and  how  he 
can  make  use  on  the  reservation  of  what  he  has  gained  at  the 
school." 

Toward  the  close  of  his  term  of  service  he  reports:  ''From 
every  point  of  view  this  department  is  performing  a  kind  of 
Christian  service  that  is  thoroughly  missionary  and  practical." 
The  personal  contribution  Dr.  Eastman  brought  as  an  Indian 
of  conspicuous  ability  was  invaluable. 

To  the  excellent  work  of  these  three  years  he  makes  the  fol- 
lowing interesting  allusion  in  the  recently  (1916)  published 
story  of  his  life : 

"I  travelled  over  a  large  part  of  the  western  states  and  in 
Canada  visiting  Indians  of  all  tribes  .  .  .  organizing  some 
forty-three  Associations  studying  Protestant  missionary  efl'ort 
among  Indians. 

I  was  constantly  meeting  with  groups  of  young  men  of  the 
Sioux,  Cheyennes,  Crees,  Ojibways,  and  others  in  log  cabins 
or  little  frame  chapels  and  trying  to  set  before  them  in  simple 
language  the  life  and  character  of  the  Man  Jesus.  I  was 
cordially  received  and  listened  to  with  closest  attention. 

From"  among  them  the  Indian  racial  philosophy  emerged 
from  time  to  time.  One  of  the  older  men  had  attentively  fol- 
lowed our  Bible  study  and  attended  every  meeting  for  a  whole 
week,  when  I  called  upon  him  for  his  views.  After  a  long 
silence  he  said:  'I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  this  Jesus 
was  an  Indian.  He  was  opposed  to  material  acquirement  and 
to  great  possessions.     He  was  inclined  to  peace.     He  was  as 


408  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

unpractical  as  any  Indian  and  set  no  price  on  his  labor  of 
love.  These  are  not  the  principles  upon  which  the  white  man 
has  founded  his  civilization.  It  is  strange  that  he  could  not 
rise  to  these  simple  princij)les  commonly  observed  among  our 
people.'  The  old  man  did  not  intend  any  sarcasm  or  unkind- 
ness,  for  after  a  minute  he  added  that  he  was  glad  we  had  ac- 
cepted such  an  unusual  character  for  our  model.  My  two 
uncles  were  in  the  Custer  fight  (1876).  I  was  happy  to  be 
sent  to  Canada  in  time  to  see  tlie  elder  one  alive.  He  had 
been  a  father  to  me  up  to  the  age  of  fifteen  and  I  had  not  seen 
him  for  over  twenty  years.  I  found  him  a  farmer  living  in  a 
Christian  community.  All  my  old  playmates  were  gathered 
there.  My  uncle  was  so  happy  that  tears  welled  up  in  his 
eyes.  'The  Great  Spirit,'  he  said,  'has  been  kind  to  let  me  see 
my  boy  again  before  I  died.'  Afterward  I  visited  the  grave  of 
my  grandmother,  whose  devotion  had  meant  so  much  to  me  as 
a  motherless  child.  She  was  my  first  teacher — she  taught  me 
to  pray.  This  was  one  of  the  great  moments  of  my  life.  I  met 
some  able  native  preachers.  I  also  visited  for  the  first  time 
the  'Five  Civilized  Tribes'  of  the  Indian  territory,  now  the 
State  of  Oklahoma.  At  Tahlequah,  the  Cherokee  capital,  the 
Senate  took  a  recess  in  honor  of  their  Sioux  visitor  and  I  ad- 
dressed students  at  Bacone  College  and  at  the  Cherokee  male 
and  female  seminaries.  To  arouse  interest  in  the  work  I  ad- 
dressed other  audiences  in  Chicago,  New  York,  Boston,  and 
Lake  Mohonk. 

My  effort  was  to  make  the  Indian  feel  that  not  Christianity 
but  the  lack  of  it  is  the  cause  of  the  white  man's  sins,  and  I 
freely  admitted  to  them  that  this  nation  is  not  Christian,  but 
declared  that  the  Christians  in  it  are  trying  to  make  it  so. 
I  found  the  facts  and  the  logic  of  facts  often  hard  to  dispute, 
but  was  partly  consoled  by  the  wonderful  opportunity  given 
me  to  come  into  close  contact  with  the  racial  mind  and  to 
refresh  my  understanding  of  the  Indian  philosophy  in  which 
I  had  been  trained,  but  which  had  been  overlaid  and  superseded 
by  a  college  education.  I  do  not  know  how  much  good  I  ac- 
complished, but  I  did  my  best.  Mj'  work  for  the  International 
Committee  brought  me  into  close  association  with  some  of  the 
best  products  of  American  civilization.  I  have  said  some  hard 
things  about  American  Christianity,  but  in  these  I  referred  to 
the  nation  as  a  whole  and  to  the  majority  of  its  people,  not 
to  individual  Christians.  Had  I  not  known  some  such  I  long 
ago  should  have  gone  back  to  the  woods." 

On  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  three  years  Dr.  Eastman 
was  succeeded,  according  to  the  arrangement  with  him,  by 
Arthur  Tibbetts,  the  Sioux  Indian  of  his  choice,  who  mean- 


RAILROAD  AND  OTHER  ASSOCIATION  WORK  409 

while  had  been  a  student  at  the  Association  Training  School  in 
Springfield. 

Dr.  Eastman  continued  to  devote  himself  to  the  service  of 
his  people.  At  their  urgent  request,  as  their  strongest  Chris- 
tian citizen  of  education,  ability,  and  superior  social  standing, 
he  spent  six  years  at  Washington,  often  appearing  on  their 
behalf  before  both  House  and  Senate  Committees.  In  a  few 
cases  he  had  personal  relations  with  four  Presidents  of  the 
United  States.  Under  the  auspices  of  the  government  he  re- 
vised the  Sioux  allotment  rolls,  acquainting  himself  with  the 
history  of  thirty  thousand  Sioux.  "While  fully  appreciating 
the  Indian's  viewpoint,"  he  ''tried  to  convince  him  of  the 
sincerity  of  his  w^hite  friends  and  that  conflicts  between  the 
two  races  have  been  due  as  much  to  mutual  misunderstand- 
ings as  to  the  selfish  greed  of  the  white  man." 

Eight  volumes  upon  the  Indian  Dr.  Eastman  has  prepared 
and  published,  "always  with  the  devoted  cooperation  of  Mrs. 
Eastman,  herself  an  author  of  distinction." 

"We  have  worked  together,"  he  says,  "she  in  the  little  leisure 
remaining  to  the  mother  of  six  children  and  I  in  the  inter- 
vals of  lecturing  and  other  employment.  For  the  past  twelve 
years  (1904-1916)  our  home  has  been  in  a  New  England  col- 
lege town  and  our  greatest  personal  concern  the  upbringing 
and  education  of  our  children.  ...  I  stand  before  my  own 
people  still  as  an  advocate  of  civilization.  ...  I  realize  the 
white  man's  religion  is  not  responsible  for  his  mistakes  .  .  . 
God  has  given  him  all  the  light  necessary  to  live  in  peace  with 
his  brother.  I  am  an  Indian ;  and  while  I  have  learned  much 
from  civilization  for  which  I  am  grateful,  I  have  never  lost 
my  Indian  sense  of  right  and  justice.  I  am  for  development 
and  progress  along  social  and  spiritual  lines  rather  than  those 
of  commerce,  nationalism,  or  material  eflSciency.  Nevertheless 
so  long  as  I  live  I  am  an  American." 

This  is  an  interesting  confession  of  faith  and  citizenship 
from  the  pioneer  Indian  Secretary  of  the  International  Com- 
mittee. 

For  eight  years  (1898-1906)  Arthur  Tibbetts  followed  up  the 
work  of  Dr.  Eastman  and  was  succeeded  by  Stephen  Jones, 
both  Secretaries  being  upon  the  staff  of  the  Field  Committee 
under  Charles  Ober. 

Since   1912   R.   D.   Hall   of   the   student   staff  has  worked 


410  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

eflSciently  among  the  Indian  schools  and  colleges.  The  Com- 
mittee's Report  to  the  Convention  of  1916  at  Cleveland  states 
that  "The  Associations  among  the  Sioux  Indians  have  not  only 
assumed  their  own  support  but  are  providing  the  budget  of 
a  Foreign  Secretary.  Twelve  carefully  selected  Indian  young 
men  are  now  training  for  the  Association  secretaryship." 
There  is  urgent  call  for  competent  Indian  Secretaries  on  the 
staff  of  both  the  Oklahoma  and  Montana  State  Committees. 

Boys'  Work 
Henry  Horace  Webster 

My  first  connection  with  Boys'  Work  was  enjoyed  in  the 
friendship  of  one  of  the  most  lovable  characters  I  ever  met — 
Henry  H.  Webster — a  graduate  of  Princeton  in  the  class  of 
1876.  He  was  for  several  years  (1877-80)  an  indefatigable,  in- 
valuable assistant  of  McBurney,  winning  the  confidence  of  his 
associates,  and  as  a  personal  worker  influencing  and  blessing 
the  lives  of  a  multitude  of  both  young  men  and  boys.  He  ar- 
dently loved  boys,  and  was  loved  by  them.  That  was  the  day  of 
the  district  messenger  boy,  before  the  telephone  had  arrived  to 
do  much  of  his  work.  Not  one  of  these  many  boys,  who  daily 
came  to  Webster's  desk,  failed  to  receive  a  greeting  that  made 
him  feel  welcome.  Associations  in  a  number  of  the  leading 
cities  called  Webster  to  be  their  General  Secretary,  but  he  pre- 
ferred to  remain  at  his  post  in  New  York  City. 

His  years  of  remarkable,  unselfish  service  as  an  employed 
oflScer  led  to  his  resignation  because  of  overwork.  No  suc- 
cessor was  allowed  to  overtax  himself  as  Webster  willingly  and 
cheerfully  had  done.  Soon  after  this  he  obtained  a  clerkship 
in  a  mercantile  house  in  the  city.  His  motive  in  the  change 
had  nothing  to  do  with  the  making  or  accumulation  of  money, 
for  he  simply  desired  to  earn  enough  for  his  own  support  as 
an  unmarried  man,  and  to  devote  every  moment  of  leisure  he 
could  command  to  the  work  of  the  Association  among  young 
men  and  boys.  Daily  for  an  hour  each  morning,  and  for  all 
the  evening,  he  was  at  the  Association  building.  The  service 
he  rendered  in  personal  work  was  priceless.  Promj^tly  this  office 
clerk  was  elected  a  Director  of  the  New  York  Association,  and 
the  following  year  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  International 
Committee.    Then  nearly  ten  years — the  remainder  of  his  life 


RAILROAD  AND  OTHER  ASSOCIATION  WORK  411 

— was  ardently  spent  in  cheerfnl,  buoyant,  whole-souled  serv- 
ice to  all  whom  the  blessed  touch  of  his  interest  and  fellowship 
could  influence. 

Very  prominent  among  the  beneficiaries  of  this  life-giving 
ministry  were  boys  of  every  class.  He  was  the  first  leader 
of  work  among  them  in  the  New  York  City  Association.  In 
1882  as  a  new  Director  he  promptly  became  first  Chairman  of 
the  first  Boys'  Work  Committee.  The  first  boys'  prayer  meet- 
ing was  in  his  charge.  On  January  20th  the  little  group  met 
for  the  first  time  and  was  composed  of  "school  boys  and  boys 
in  oflSces."  At  the  very  beginning  he  clearly  discerned  the 
cardinal  principle  of  effective  Boys'  Work,  for  in  the  first  re- 
port he  writes :  "The  members  of  the  Committee  have  little  to 
mention  of  their  own  activity,  but  much  of  the  interest  and 
cooperation  of  the  members."'^  It  is  what  the  boys  did  for 
one  another  that  receives  first  emphasis. 

In  1888,  four  branches  of  the  New  York  Association  had 
rooms  set  apart  for  boys.  In  1889  good  rooms  on  the  fourth 
floor  of  the  original  23rd  Street  Building  were  equipped  for 
the  use  of  the  boys.  In  1897,  when  the  Association  dedicated 
its  second  great  building,  under  the  guidance  and  supervision 
of  McBurney,  as  chief  architect,  twenty  per  cent  of  the  entire 
space  was  assigned  to  the  Boys'  Department. 

Henry  Webster  did  not  live  to  see  this  consummation.  The 
pure  flame  of  his  loving,  unselfish  service  was  fed  by  an  energy 
and  activity,  joyous  and  buoyant,  but  beyond  the  bodily 
strength  with  which  he  was  endowed.  Of  such  over-exertion 
he  died  in  1891,  in  the  bloom  of  his  manhood  at  the  age  of 
thirty-eight,  when  he  was  most  faithful  in  serving  and  following 
the  Saviour  of  men.  It  was  a  rare  privilege  to  enjoy  fellow- 
ship with  Henry  Webster,  in  the  work  of  both  the  New  York 
Association  and  the  International  Committee. 

Soon  after  his  election  by  the  Convention  of  1883  he  was 
chosen  the  first  Chairman  of  the  International  Committee's  Stu- 
dent Department.  About  this  time  Moody  consented  to  spend 
a  week-end  in  New  Haven  and  to  speak  to  the  Yale  students 
Sunday  morning  and  evening.  Webster  was  the  companion  I 
chose  to  go  with  me  for  such  after-meeting  i)ersonal  work  as 
might  be  called  for,  and  when  another  week-end  was  to  be 

^  Axinual  Report  of  New  York  City  Association,  p.  71. 


412  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

spent  in  quiet  conference  and  discussion  at  Harvard  about 
organizing  a  Student  Association,  there  also  his  company  and 
fellowship  were  sought  and  were  equally  welcome.  For  fifteen 
years  we  were  workers  together  in  near  communion.  I  may 
have  rendered  him  some  cooperation,  but  the  blessed  service 
he  faithfully  lived  into  my  life  can  never  be  recorded  in  words. 
It  will  be  forever  seeking  and  finding  expression  in  other  ways. 

Sumner  F.  Dudley 

While  Webster  was  still  with  us  another  noble  leader  of  work 
among  boys  appeared  in  the  New  York  Association,  Sumner 
F.  Dudley.  Equally  with  Henry  Webster  he  was  beloved 
among  boys,  and  possessed  rare  qualification  to  lead  in  the 
work  by  and  for  them.  We  were  fellow  delegates  attending 
the  World's  Conference  that  met  at  Berlin  in  the  summer  of 
1884.  In  our  intercourse  he  pled  for  the  promotion  of  Associa- 
tion work  among  boys,  and  said :  "We  are  specializing  in  work 
among  students,  railroad  men,  and  other  classes  of  young  men. 
International  Secretaries  are  devoting  their  lives  to  such  work. 
Is  it  not  equally  important  to  specialize  on  work  among  boys?" 
"Yes,"  I  replied,  "but  has  not  this  work  among  these  other 
classes  been  practicable  because,  in  each  case,  a  man  was  found 
— feeling  as  you  do  about  Boys'  Work — who  was  not  only 
qualified  to  lead,  but  was  willing  to  set  himself  apart  to  do 
it?"  I  felt  sure  I  was  speaking  to  a  friend  whom  we  would 
be  glad  to  enlist  as  an  International  Secretary  for  this  work, 
as  Wishard  and  Ingersoll  had  come  on  the  staff  in  the  Student 
and  Kailroad  Departments. 

At  this  time,  however,  specialization  on  various  lines  al- 
ready developed  by  the  International  Committee  had  raised 
the  question  whether  further  initiative  in  regard  to  other 
classes  might  not  be  undertaken  by  the  State  Committees, 
to  the  relief  of  the  international  and  to  the  extension  of  state 
supervision.  McBurney  in  his  strong  leadership  of  the  New 
York  State  Work  was  of  this  opinion.  My  own  conviction  was 
that  we  promoted  the  best  interest  of  the  local  organization — 
the  sovereign  unit,  for  the  welfare  of  which  both  supervisory 
agencies  existed — when  both  agencies  were  enlisted  in  the 
work.  In  the  best  development  of  most  of  the  work,  each 
agency  should  and  could  lend  a  hand.     If  the  state  agency 


RAILROAD  AND  OTHER  ASSOCIATION  WORK  413 

took  the  initiative,  eventually  an  inter-state  cooperation  would 
be  called  for.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  initiative  wa«  by  the 
international  agency,  it  must  be  followed  and  forwarded  by 
state  supervision.  In  this  instance  I  was  heartily  in  favor  of 
giving  precedence  to  the  state  agency. 

Accordingly  at  the  New  York  State  Convention  of  that  year 
(1884)  Dudley  led  the  interesting  discussion  on  Boys'  Work, 
and  activity  on  this  line  was  reported  from  seventeen  Associa- 
tions in  that  state.  In  the  three  following  conventions  he 
presided  at  the  Boys'  Work  session  and  gave  generously  of 
his  time  and  energy  as  a  volunteer  to  develop  the  work.  Later 
for  a  part  of  his  time  he  became  a  member  of  the  state  force, 
and  continued  in  this  oflSce  and  work  until  his  death  in  1896. 
The  name  of  Camp  Dudley — a  summer  center  for  boys'  fellow- 
ship, recreation,  and  work — keeps  in  memory  one  important 
part  of  the  life  work  of  this  noble  j)ioueer  of  the  first  rank. 

Edgar  M.  Robinson 

Four  years  after  the  death  of  Dudley,  it  became  widely  aj) 
parent  that  the  Boys'  Work  had  need,  for  its  best  development, 
of  the  interstate  agency  of  supervision.  The  Employed  Officers' 
Conference  of  1899  not  only  unanimously  solicited  the  Com- 
mittee to  put  in  the  field  an  International  Secretary  for  this 
purpose,  but  pledged  the  salary  needed  for  the  first  year.  Edgar 
M.  Robinson — State  Boys'  Secretary  of  Massachusetts — was 
chosen  as  the  first  Boys'  Secretary  on  the  International  staff. 
It  proved  practicable  to  keep  him  in  the  field,  though  many 
of  the  contributions  expired  with  the  first  year.  Under  his 
strong  leadership  the  members  of  the  Committee's  staff  for 
this  department  have  steadily  increased  and  the  development 
of  the  Boys'  Work  has  been  greatly  accelerated.  In  the  Year 
Book  of  1900  only  twenty  Boys'  Secretaries  were  recorded.  In 
that  of  1913-14,  over  four  hundred  and  fifty  are  named.  In 
1900  scarcely  a  dozen  of  the  Boys'  Departments  numbered  as 
many  as  two  hundred  boys,  while  in  1916  forty-seven  Depart- 
ments had  passed  the  five  hundred  mark. 

County  and  Kural  Work 
Beginnings 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was  born  in  the  city, 


414  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

and  there  it  has  developed  its  greatest  strength  and  resources, 
as  the  trunk  of  the  Association  Movement  throughout  the  world. 
For  the  first  twenty-five  years — 1851  to  1870 — the  societies,  in 
both  city  and  country,  were  almost  wholly  composed  of  laymeu 
volunteers.  The  employed  officer  as  a  source  of  strength  and 
permanence  was  yet  to  arrive.  Of  the  659  Associations,  "be- 
lieved to  exist"  in  1870,  and  of  the  329  among  these  that  "re- 
ported to  the  Committee''  that  year,  the  great  majority  were 
in  small  towns  and  country  neighborhoods.  During  these 
years  and  the  following  decade  there  was  great  mortality 
among  the  Associations,  in  both  city  and  countr3\  This  tend- 
ency was  arrested  in  the  city,  when  wise  volunteer  workers 
in  their  endeavor  to  develop  the  fourfold  work  began  to  secure 
the  qualified  employed  officer,  who  in  turn  sought  to  develop 
and  extend  the  work  by  an  increasing  number  of  both  laymen 
and  Secretaries. 

The  work  in  small  towns  and  country  neighborhoods  con- 
tinued, but  without  the  secretarial  anchorage  secured  in  the 
cities.  To  the  federation  agencies — State  and  International 
— this  rural  situation  presented  from  decade  to  decade  one  of 
their  most  difficult  problems.  The  value  of  the  work  in  rural 
communities  was  unquestioned.  In  every  conference  of  Asso- 
ciation leaders  this  was  demonstrated  by  the  number  present 
who  owed  the  beginning  of  their  Christian  life  and  Association 
activity  to  these  short-lived  Associations  in  town  and  country. 
They  lived  and  died  and  revived.  In  contemplation  of  their 
interrupted  existence  a  veteran  among  the  State  Secretaries, 
I.  E.  Brown  of  Illinois,  said  at  one  of  our  conferences :  "I  have 
learned  to  look  with  resignation  upon  the  death  of  these  Asso- 
ciations. I  know  how  many  of  us  owe  what  is  best  in  our  lives 
to  them.    I  believe  in  their  coming  to  life  again !" 

To  the  Senior  International  Secretary,  Robert  Weidensall — 
that  preeminent  pioneer  among  pioneers — is  due  the  solution 
of  the  secretarial  problem  in  rural  communities.  As  early  as 
1873  an  organization  was  effected  by  him  in  Dupage  Township, 
Will  County,  111.  In  1875,  in  Mason  County,  Illinois,  a  county 
convention  was  held,  and  a  county  organization  effected.  Out 
of  this  experience  Weidensall,  in  1876,  entered  a  plea  for  an 
employed  County  Secretary,  but  not  until  1889  was  such  an 
officer  secured  by  him  for  Pawnee  County,  Nebraska.    In  1891, 


RAILROAD  AND  OTHER  ASSOCIATION  WORK  415 

John  Lake  became  Secretary  in  Edgefield  County,  South  Caro- 
lina, and  after  eight  years  of  patient  service,  became  the  first 
Supervisory  Secretary  for  County  Work — called  to  that  office 
by  the  Kentucky  State  Committee.  These  steps  of  progress 
were  all  taken  under  Weidensall's  leadership.  As  in  the  Boys' 
Work,  so  in  that  of  the  country  neighborhood,  the  State  organi- 
zation first  secured  a  supervisory  Secretary. 

The  International  County  Secretaryship 

Four  years  later  (1903)  Weidensall  urgently  sought  for  an 
International  Secretary  for  interstate  supervision.  In  response 
to  his  urgent  and  insistent  call  upon  them  personally,  his  junior 
associates  on  the  International  force  united  in  contributing 
a  sum  of  money  which  made  it  financially  practicable  to  add 
to  their  staff  for  this  position,  the  man  of  Weidensall's  choice 
— John  R.  Boardman.  This  Rural  Department  acquired  the 
name  of  "County  Work"  because  Weidensall  and  his  associates 
discovered  that  the  county  furnished  the  smallest  area  in 
which,  by  a  combination  of  its  resources,  a  work  for  the  young 
men  in  country  neighborhoods  could  command  the  money 
needed  to  employ  the  indispensable  executive  officer. 

This  work  is  still  in  its  infancy  (1917)  and  only  a  beginning- 
has  been  made  by  establishing  an  employed  officer  in  some  81 
of  the  2,500  counties  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  Fifteen 
State  Committees  employ  each  a  State  County  Secretary. 
Under  the  strong  leadership  of  the  successor  of  Boardman, 
Albert  E.  Roberts,  as  chief  Secretary,  a  county  staff  of  nine 
International  Secretaries  is  now  efficiently  promoting  this 
work.  One  hundred  and  thirteen  are  giving  their  lives  to  the 
work  as  Secretaries  under  the  guidance  of  a  sub-committee, 
of  which  Dr.  D.  H.  McAlpin  is  the  active  and  vigilant  chairman. 
Over  a  thousand  members  are  enlisted  upon  these  county  com- 
mittees and  within  the  counties  work  is  carried  on  at  over  six 
hundred  centers.  It  is  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  promise  of 
this  Rural  Department. 

Community  Association  Work 

During  recent  years  in  the  County  and  Boys'  Work  and  in 
some  metropolitan  cities,  Association  Secretaries  have  begun 
to  plant,  with  little  or  no  equipment.  Community  Young  Men's 


416  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Christian  Associations.  Some  Metropolitan  Secretaries  are 
establisliing,  in  districts  of  the  city  which  are  not  being  served 
through  the  fourfold  Association  work  and  its  building,  branch 
Associations  on  the  community  basis,  making  use  of  church 
and  school  and  other  agencies  already  at  work  for  community 
welfare.  In  some  instances  a  Boy's  Secretary  will  begin  here, 
as  a  branch,  a  work  for  boys  on  this  community  basis.  In 
smaller  cities  there  is  a  growing  tendency  to  establish  Com- 
munity Associations.  These  endeavors  are  challenging  atten- 
tion and  interest  from  leaders  in  all  parts  of  the  Association 
Movement.  A  new  type  of  building  known  as  a  "Community 
Building"  is  owned  bj'  some  Associations  and  operated  for  the 
benefit  of  the  entire  community.  Boys  and  young  men  are 
enlisted  in  groups  through  churches,  schools,  factories,  etc., 
and  in  some  instances,  unattached  groups  are  formed  under 
eflficient  leadership,  and  these  use  the  building  at  stated  times 
for  definite  activities.  A  fee  is  paid  directly  into  the  group 
treasury,  and  each  group  in  turn  pays  for  the  use  of  the  build- 
ing. Thus  the  Association  building  becomes  a  community 
center,  under  religious  leadership.  The  watchwords  of  these 
Association  workers  are  "The  Social  Principles  of  Jesus," 
"Christianizing  Community  Life."  These  words  point  out  to 
leaders  fundamental  principles  and  their  application.  Inter- 
national County  and  Boys'  Work  Secretaries  are  strongly 
identified  with  this  new  departure  and  among  them,  F.  H.  T. 
Ritchie,  from  the  Boys'  Bureau,  is  now  (1917)  known  as  "Com- 
munity Secretary  of  the  International  Committee"  and  author 
of  the  text  book  "Community  Work,"  embodying  the  results 
of  nine  years  of  strong  patient  leadership  by  him  on  this  line 
of  Association  endeavor.  International,  State,  metropolitan, 
and  local  Secretaries  are  working  out  the  problems  involved, 
seeking  a  unity  of  spirit  and  a  combination  of  effort  which  will 
bring  to  bear  upon  the  solution  of  the  many  problems  presented, 
the  influence  and  weight  of  the  entire  Association  movement. 

The  Women's  Auxiliary 

The  Women's  Auxiliary  owes  its  origin  to  a  suggestion  at  the 
dinner  meeting  in  New  York  of  November,  1896,  at  which  was 
celebrated  the  thirtieth  anniversary  of  the  Committee's  ap- 
pointment and  work.    Many  of  the  veteran  members  were  pres- 


RAILROAD  AND  OTHER  ASSOCIATION  WORK  417 

ent  and  an  impressive  presentation  of  the  whole  work  from 
its  beginning  was  listened  to.  Among  those  who  attended  the 
meeting  was  a  gentleman  who  had  never  before  known  of  the 
work  of  the  Committee.  He  suggested  that  such  a  presentation 
as  he  had  listened  to  ought  to  be  heard  by  Christian  women, 
and  this  led  the  Committee,  during  the  following  year,  to  ap- 
point a  committee  of  a  few  Christian  women  who  were  already 
friends  of  the  work  to  constitute  an  auxiliary,  the  object  of 
which  should  be  to  promote  a  knowledge  of  this  work  among 
women  who  would  be  led  to  take  a  practical  interest  in  it. 

Among  those  who  at  the  beginning  joined  the  movement  was 
Mrs.  E.  A.  McAlpin,  who  became  its  first  president.  Mrs.  Rus- 
sell Sage  was  first  vice-president,  Miss  Helen  Miller  Gould — 
now  Mrs.  Finley  J.  Shepard — second  vice-president,  and  Miss 
Letitia  G.  O'Neil — now  Mrs.  Darlington — secretary  and  treas- 
urer. 

Parlor  meetings  were  held,  at  which  different  phases  of  the 
work  were  presented  to  the  members  of  the  Auxiliary  and 
other  friends.  When  the  Spanish  War  resulted  in  the  creation 
of  the  Army  and  Navy  Department,  and  Miss  Gould  began  to 
take  her  generous  interest  in  this  work  and  also  in  that  among 
railroad  men,  these  departments  appealed  especially  to  the 
auxiliary.  Meetings  were  held  in  other  cities  and  in  1904  the 
membership  had  increased  to  over  450. 

The  gifts  of  Miss  Gould  came  to  the  Committee  through  the 
treasury  of  the  Auxiliary.  Some  years  later  she  erected  the 
Naval  Branch  building  near  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  and 
Mrs.  Sage  generously  doubled  its  capacity.  As  their  interest 
increased,  both  Miss  Gould  and  Mrs.  Sage  gave  additional 
buildings  for  the  army  posts  and  the  navy  stations.  In  1906 
and  1907  Mrs.  William  E.  Dodge  and  Mrs.  Sage  united  in 
giving  to  the  International  Committee  its  present  headquarters 
building.  A  fuller  account  of  this  generous  gift  is  given  in 
another  chapter.  Mrs.  Sage  also  gave  the  employes  of  the  Long 
Island  Railroad  at  Long  Island  City  a  commodious  Association 
building  and  Mrs.  Butterfield,  another  member  of  the  Auxili- 
ary, left  her  residuary  estate  to  the  Committee  for  its  work 
in  the  Army  and  Navy.  In  these  and  other  ways,  through  the 
agency  of  the  Auxiliary,  the  number  of  friends  actively  in- 
terested in  the  work  has  been  steadily  increased. 


CHAPTER  XX 
AN  ERA  OF  REMARKABLE  PROGRESS 

A  Permanent  Fund  for  the  International  Committee 

As  early  as  1886  the  steady  growth  of  the  Committee's  work 
and  budget  suggested  to  me  the  wisdom  of  securing  a  perma- 
nent fund,  not  as  a  substitute  but  as  a  promoter  of  annual  con- 
tributions. The  local  Associations  were  securing  permanent 
property — chiefly  in  the  form  of  buildings — which  in  each  in- 
stance promoted  an  increase  of  annual  contributions  to  the 
local  work.  The  size  of  the  Committee's  budget — then  nearly 
150,000 — seemed  to  call  for  such  an  effort.  I  submitted  a  care- 
ful memorandum  on  the  subject  to  several  members  of  the  Com- 
mittee. Elbert  B.  Monroe  and  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  both  ap- 
proved of  such  an  undertaking  and  promised  their  help  when 
an  opportune  time  to  begin  the  efifort  should  be  agreed  upon, 
Cyrus  H.  McCormick  compared  such  a  provision  to  "a  back- 
log" and  the  efficiency  it  gave  to  a  fire. 

In  1892  the  Massachusetts  State  Committee  began  an  effort 
to  secure  a  building  in  Boston  which  four  years  later  they  oc- 
cupied. 

During  the  Jubilee  year  (1894)  of  the  parent  Association  in 
London  the  International  Committee  circulated  an  appeal  to 
the  Associations  asking  them  to  take  up  collections  as  the  be- 
ginning of  a  permanent  fund  for  its  work,  but  less  than  |2,000 
was  received  from  this  source,  and  I  was  confirmed  in  the  con- 
viction that  a  beginning  in  substantial  gifts  must  be  attempted 
in  order  to  reach  the  desired  goal.  To  the  International  Con- 
vention of  1895  Professor  J.  M.  Coulter,  of  Lake  Forest  Uni- 
versity, by  special  request  presented  an  excellent  plea  for  a 
permanent  fund  for  the  International  Work,  and  the  Conven- 
tions of  1895  and  1897  recommended  securing  such  a  fund. 

In  the  following  year  (1898)  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
Committee  and  its  Secretaries,  William  E.  Dodge  listened  to 
this  plea  for  a  fund,  and  afterward  expressed  to  me  the  opinion 
that  for  f  100,000  a  suitable  building  could  be  secured  and  fitted 

418 


AN  ERA  OF  REMARKABLE  PROGRESS  419 

up  for  the  Committee.  He  generously  offered  to  give  that 
amount  if  it  should  prove  sufficient  for  the  purpose.  This 
friendly  sympathy  gave  me  courage  to  persist  in  further  effort. 
To  the  Convention  of  1891),  in  connection  with  arrangements  for 
the  Jubilee  Convention  of  1901,  the  Committee  recommended 
an  effort  to  signalize  the  Jubilee  year  of  the  North  American 
Associations  by  seeking  to  secure  a  million-dollar  permanent 
fund  for  the  growing  work  of  the  Committee.  In  response  the 
following  resolutions  were  adopted : 

"1,  That  it  is  of  first  importance  that  the  fund  shall  be  in- 
creased to  such  an  amount  that  its  income  shall  form  a  stable 
part  of  the  large  annual  expenditure  of  the  Committee,  stimu- 
lating the  increase  of  annual  contributions,  and 

2.  That  a  fund  of  a  million  dollars,  as  a  wise  partial  endow- 
ment for  the  whole  work,  would  be  a  fitting  achievement  for  the 
brotherhood  to  accomplish  during  the  Jubilee  year  of  1901." 

To  many  friends  this  had  seemed  a  visionary  undertaking, 
but  now,  in  the  action  of  the  Convention,  a  definite  amount  was 
named,  and  a  definite  period  in  which  to  raise  it. 

Mr.  Dodge  very  generously  consented  to  let  his  offer  of  a 
fund  for  a  building  form  part  of  the  larger  project  authorized 
by  the  Convention.  I  was  fully  persuaded  after  the  experience 
of  the  past  few  years  that  the  project  would  fail  unless  an 
offer  of  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  fund  could  be  secured  con- 
ditioned on  the  total  being  subscribed  on  or  before  January 
1,  1902. 

John  D.  Rockefeller  for  more  than  twenty  years  had  taken 
a  generous  interest  in  the  work.  From  him  I  sought  such  an 
offer  in  correspondence  with  his  son.  The  first  request  brought 
an  unfavorable  response,  but  some  months  afterward,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  American  Jubilee  year  (1901)  I  wrote  a  second 
letter  dated  February  13th,  and  containing  the  following  state- 
ment : 

"1.  Steadily  for  over  thirty  years  one-twentieth  of  the  total 
expenditure  for  the  work  of  these  North  American  Associations 
and  their  friends  has  gone  to  support  their  international  agency 
of  supervision.  When  the  Associations  were  spending  annually 
1200,000,  one-twentieth  (|10,000)  went  for  this  supervision. 
Now  when  the  whole  brotherhood  is  spending  nearly  $3,000,000, 
one-twentieth  of  this  sum  is  spent  by  the  same  agency. 

If  you  ask  which  one  of  the  twenty-twentieths  of  total  expen- 


420  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

diture  by  all  the  Associations  during  these  years  was  the 
most  valuable  twentieth,  or  rather,  which  one  could  be  spared 
with  least  detriment  to  the  usefulness  of  the  whole  work,  the 
reply  from  intelligent  Association  workers  and  leaders  would 
be:  'The  loss  of  any  one-twentieth  or  of  any  three-twentieths 
of  Association  expenditure  in  any  one  year  would  have  been 
less  detrimental  to  the  whole  work  than  would  have  been  the 
loss  of  the  one-twentieth  needed  for  International  supervision.' 

2.  During  these  thirty  years  the  local  and  State  Association 
Work  (costing  nineteen-tweutieths)  has  been  provided  with 
nineteen  millions,  net,  of  permanent  property — mostly  in  the 
form  of  local  Association  buildings — giving  stability  to  the 
local  work,  and  always  in  each  Association  increasing  annual 
donations  to  current  expenses.  Over  one  million  annually  is 
being  added  to  this  permanent  building  property. 

Is  not,  therefore,  the  time  ripe  to  give  to  the  supervision 
agency  with  its  expenditure  of  one-twentieth  (and  this  the  most 
indispensable  twentieth)  a  similar  stability  in  the  shape  of  a 
fund  amounting  to  one-nineteenth  (one  million)  of  what  the 
local  and  state  Associations  with  their  expenditure  of  nineteen- 
tweutieths  have  received? 

If  your  father  and  yourself  could  now  consider  favorably  the 
proposition  I  ventured  to  make  to  you  last  spring,  namely, 
to  add  to  the  offer  we  have  received  of  |100,000  the  sum  of 
$250,000  with  the  proviso  that  the  whole  fund  should  be  sub- 
scribed this  year,  I  believe — after  carefully  going  over  the  list 
of  our  friends — that  we  would  have  a  good  fighting  chance  of 
securing  this  exceedingly  valuable  Jubilee  reenforcement  for 
a  work,  the  blessings  and  benefits  of  which  among  young  men 
are  now  world-wide. 

I  follow  this  letter  with  very  earnest  prayer  that  you  may 
be  divinely  led  to  such  a  reply  as  will  make  for  the  progress 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  among  young  men,  permanently  and 
throughout  the  world." 

To  this  letter  a  favorable  reply  was  received,  and  I  felt  an 
assurance  that  now  the  fund  could  be  secured.  But  there  was 
needed  much  more  time  and  strenuous  effort  than  was  then 
anticipated. 

On  learning  of  this  friendly  and  generous  reply,  William 
E.  Dodge  confirmed  his  offer  of  a  tenth  of  the  fund.  Miss 
Helen  Miller  Gould  offered  another  tenth,  and  Mrs.  N.  F.  Mc- 
Cormick,  of  Chicago,  and  Gerald  Massey,  of  Toronto,  united 
in  subscribing  a  third  tenth. 

It  was  in  endeavor  after  the  latter  part  of  the  fund,  com- 
posed of  smaller  sums,  that  more  unfavorable  than  favorable 


AN  ERA  OF  REMARKABLE  PROGRESS  421 

replies  were  received.  But  Morris  K.  Jesup,  Cyrus  H.  Mc- 
Cormick,  Cleveland  H.  Dodge,  Charles  M.  and  Frederick  B. 
Pratt,  Chairman  Warner,  Vice-Chairman  Marling,  U.  H.  and 
C.  W,  McAljnn,  and  other  members  and  friends  of  the  Com- 
mittee and  its  work,  responded  favorably,  so  that  at  the  end 
of  the  Jubilee  year  |800,000  had  been  offered  and  the  sub- 
scribers extended  the  time  limit  to  July  1,  1902.  .In  the  last 
week  of  June  the  fund  was  completed  and  before  the  close  of 
that  year  nearly  two-thirds  of  it  had  been  received  by  the 
Treasurer. 

First  World  Tour  December,  1902,  to  June,  1903 

It  was  our  friend  William  E.  Dodge  who  suggested,  during 
the  strenuous  summer  of  1002,  that  Mrs.  Morse  and  I  should 
make  a  tour  around  the  world  for  rest  and  recreation  and  for 
a  wider  Association  visitation  than  we  had  yet  accomplished. 
The  proposal  was  heartily  favored  by  the  Committee,  and  on 
December  6th  we  set  out  at  midnight,  from  the  Grand  Central 
Station,  to  take  a  steamer  at  Boston  for  Gibraltar  on  our  way 
to  Marseilles,  Suez,  and  Bombay.  It  was  my  first  absence  from 
the  office  during  the  closing  weeks  of  the  fiscal  year.  Until  this 
time  such  an  absence  had  seemed  impracticable. 

As  our  steamer  dropped  anchor  at  Gibraltar,  from  a  little 
launch  came  a  welcome  greeting  by  a  friend  and  former  fel- 
low Secretary — the  late  Mr.  Nathan — who  was  then  a  mission- 
ary at  Tangier.  He  had  heard  of  our  coming,  and  persuaded 
us  to  improve  the  opportunity'  to  return  with  him  for  a  visit 
to  Tangier  and  his  fellow  missionaries  among  the  Moham- 
medans of  that  city,  where  he  was  hoping  to  plant  an  Asso- 
ciation. 

While  at  Gibraltar,  in  response  to  the  request  of  the  Army 
Chaplain,  I  preached  in  the  church  of  the  garrison  on  Sunday 
upon  the  mission  and  work  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation. In  some  respects  it  was  a  novel  experience.  Wearing 
a  voluminous  gown,  I  was  preceded  up  the  steep  little  stairs 
to  the  pulpit  by  a  soldier  in  brilliant  red  uniform  and  rattling 
accouterments,  who  locked  me  into  a  somewhat  lofty  enclos- 
ure. At  the  end  of  the  service  he  returned,  unlocked  the  door, 
and  escorted  me  down  to  the  level  of  my  somewhat  distant 
audience. 


422  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

While  passing  through  the  Canal  and  part  of  the  Eed  Sea 
we  enjoyed  the  marvelous  sunsets  which  can  be  seen  only  in 
that  northeastern  part  of  Africa — sunsets  the  beauties  of  which 
never  pass  from  the  memory. 

On  Christmas  Eve  our  steamer  tarried  at  Marseilles  long 
enough  for  us  to  visit  the  Association  rooms,  and  receive  a 
cordial  greeting  from  our  friend,  Secretary  Geisendorf,  whom 
we  had  met  at  Paris  when  he  was  on  the  staff  of  the  Associa- 
tion in  that  city.  At  the  rooms  we  found  him  presiding  very 
hospitably  at  the  Christmas  dinner  given  to  a  group  of  home- 
less young  men  from  many  nations,  who  had  gladly  come  to- 
gether in  response  to  his  call. 

En  route  to  the  Suez  Canal  we  passed  safely  between  Scylla 
and  Charybdis,  obtaining  an  impressive  view  of  Mount  Etna. 
The  Christmas  holidays  were  spent  in  the  torrid  heat  of  the 
Red  and  Arabian  Seas.  As  our  steamer  moved  slowly  up  to 
the  pier  at  Bombay,  and  we  stood  on  deck  among  fellow  pas- 
sengers, many  of  whom  were  returning  to  husbands,  fathers, 
family,  and  kindred,  we  confessed  to  "feeling  a  touch  of  home- 
sickness." Suddenly  from  the  mass  of  upturned  expectant 
faces  on  the  pier  came  an  eager  call :  "Welcome  to  India  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morse,"  and  we  recognized  Secretary  Anderson, 
of  Bombay,  and  Dr.  J.  Butter  Williamson,  formerly  Treasurer 
of  the  Student  Federation,  and  now  a  medical  missionary  in 
the  Presbyterian  Hospital  at  Miraj. 

Never  were  travelers  in  a  strange  land  better  cared  for  and 
guided  than  we  were  by  our  friends  and  fellow  Secretaries 
during  our  fifty  days  in  India,  as  we  visited  Bombay,  called  at 
Poona  upon  the  remarkable  family  of  Sorabji,  were  entertained 
at  Miraj  by  Drs.  Wanless  and  Williamson,  and  at  Kohlapur 
in  the  house  in  which  the  parents  of  our  friend  Robert  Wilder 
had  made  their  home,  and  where  we  occupied  the  room  in 
which  he  was  born.  At  Khedgaon,  we  became  acquainted  with 
one  of  the  homes  for  child  widows  established  by  Pundita 
Ramabai. 

Then  we  journeyed  northward  with  Dr.  Williamson  to 
Lahore,  visiting  Jeypore  in  the  state  of  Rajputana;  Agra, 
where  we  were  favored  in  seeing  the  full  moon  set  and  the  sun 
rise  over  the  wonderful  Taj  Mahal ;  and  Delhi,  with  its  many 
features    of    historic    interest.      Returning    southward    from 


AN  ERA  OF  REMARKABLE  PROGRESS  423 

Lahore  we  were  entertained  at  Allahabad,  Jhansi,  Benares,  and 
Calcutta  by  missionaries  and  Secretaries.  From  Calcutta  we 
nsited  Darjeeling  and  saw  some  of  the  wonders  of  the  Hima- 
layas. En  route  to  Colombo,  at  Madras  and  Madura  we  paused 
among  friends  and  associates.  Every  new  contact  deepened 
and  made  more  intelligent  our  sympathy  with  these  heroic  fel- 
low workers  in  their  solicitudes,  problems,  labors,  and  achieve- 
ments. Of  sacrifice  and  comx^laint  we  never  heard  mention, 
but  of  forgetfulness  and  loss  of  self  in  the  consciousness  of 
service  rendered,  every  evidence  was  given. 

Of  India,  its  rivers  and  mountains  and  plains,  its  cities 
and  villages,  its  many  peoples  and  languages,  and  their  miser- 
ies and  needs;  of  British  rule  in  government  and  army,  of  uni- 
versity, college,  and  school ;  of  heathen  temples  and  Christian 
churches — of  these  and  many  other  features  of  interest,  we 
gained  the  hopeful  impression  of  Christian  travelers,  pro- 
foundly interested  in  the  planting  and  development  of  the 
Christian  Church,  by  a  band  of  fellow  Christian  workers 
steadily  growing  in  numbers  and  already  cheered  by  tokens 
of  accelerating  progress  from  generation  to  generation. 

At  Colombo  on  the  first  of  March  we  were  joined  by  our 
friends  Chairman  Warner  and  his  wife.  They  had  arrived  on 
the  steamer  Victoria  in  which,  on  their  way  to  Australia,  they 
had  come  through  sea,  canal,  and  ocean.  According  to  previous 
arrangement  we  now  joined  them  and  after  a  voyage  of  two 
weeks  on  the  Indian  Ocean  visited  with  them  ten  of  the  princi- 
pal cities  of  Australia,  Tasmania,  and  New  Zealand.  At 
several  places  we  were  joined  by  John  E.  Mott,  who  was  for 
a  second  time  visiting  the  universities  of  Australasia  in  the 
interest  of  the  Student  Association  work  he  had  founded  and 
organized  among  their  undergraduates. 

Our  next  steamer  carried  us,  now  a  party  of  six,  including 
Mott  and  his  secretary,  Edward  C.  Jenkins,  to  Pagopago, 
Samoa,  and  Fanning  Island,  a  Canadian  cable  station,  and  ap- 
parently one  of  the  loneliest  and  most  forsaken  spots  on  the 
face  of  the  earth  or  the  water.  At  Honolulu  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Warner  left  us,  to  our  great  regret,  for  we  could  not  tarry 
with  them. 

Landing  at  San  Francisco  May  24,  1903,  after  a  journey  of 
many  thousand  miles  by  land  and  sea,  and  having  met  with 


424  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

no  serious  mishap,  we  were  devoutly  grateful  for  the  in- 
estimable blessings  and  opportunities  which  had  followed  us 
these  many  memorable  days.  From  San  Francisco  by  way  of 
Leadville,  Cripple  Creek,  and  Denver,  we  reached  home  safely 
June  6th,  after  an  eventful  and  comfortable  world  journey  of 
nearly  22,000  miles  by  sea  and  12,000  miles  overland. 

The  Australasian  Part  of  the  Tour 

Of  our  two  months'  tour  in  Australasia  (March  15th  to  May 
8th),  the  following  account  was  sent  in  a  private  letter  to  Wil- 
liam E.  Dodge  and  some  other  friends,  to  one  of  whom,  Mrs. 
Cyrus  H,  McCormick,  it  seemed  worth  circulating  in  the  form 
of  a  newspaper  article.  It  is  quoted  here  as  introduction  to 
an  account  of  the  sequel  of  that  journey : 

''In  striking  contrast  with  the  trip  of  6,000  miles  in  India 
was  our  journe}'  in  Australia,  occupying  about  the  same  time, 
fifty-five  days.  In  other  continents  we  have  visited  twenty 
countries,  besides  the  many  peoples  of  India,  but  here  for  the 
first  time  we  find  a  nation  younger  than  our  own,  and  bearing 
every  mark  of  vigorous  youth — a  people  too  of  our  own  race, 
language,  and  traditions,  working  out  the  problems  of  Church 
and  State  in  a  federation  of  colonies  or  states,  with  leaders 
who  are  seeking  to  make  their  institutions  an  advance  upon, 
and  an  evolution  out  of  those  of  the  Mother  Country  and  our 
own  continent. 

We  began  the  tour  at  Adelaide,  where  a  few  delegates  from 
some  of  the  Australian  Associations  had  come  together  for  a 
conference.  Our  Chairman,  Dr.  Warner,  and  his  wife  and  Sec- 
retary Mott  were  with  us  in  Adelaide.  It  was  Mott's  second 
visit,  and  he  had  come  at  the  call  of  the  various  Christian 
Student  Unions  which,  several  years  before,  he  had  formed 
upon  the  lines  of  our  American  Student  Work.  He  had  pro- 
cured for  them  from  us  a  Supervisory  Secretary,  with  the 
adequate  support  for  him  offered  by  Australian  friends.  By 
reason  of  this  wise  provision,  the  Student  Movement  has  made 
a  steady  progress,  and  in  this  second  visit  he  is  able  to  add  to 
the  staff  here  a  much  needed  second  Supervisory  Secretary, 
after  again  securing  his  support  on  this  field  of  promise. 

A  sadly  opposite  career  has  been  realized  by  the  City  Associa- 
tions. They  are  in  danger  of  an  arrested  development  through 
isolation  from  one  another.  They  have  not  b}^  patient  brotherly 
intercourse  and  conference  learned  of  one  another's  excellencies 
and  mistakes,  and  so  have  not  been  led  to  form  an  effective 
agency  of  supervision.    The  Secretaries  also  have  failed  to  meet 


AN  ERA  OF  REMARKABLE  PROGRESS  425 

together  and  stimulate  one  another  to  train  younger  and  better 
men  for  this  indispensable  office.  Good  men  and  true  I  find 
are  members  of  the  Boards  of  Directors,  but  are  troubled  and 
bewildered  by  the  feebleness  of  a  work  without  trained  em- 
ployed officers.  As  a  Secretary  I  feel  ashamed  and  mortified 
to  confess  how  much  secretarial  deficiency  has  to  do  with  what- 
ever Association  inefficiency  exists  here. 

Very  hearty  welcome  has  been  given  us  both  by  laymen  and 
Secretaries,  At  the  public  receptions  accorded  us,  we  have 
tried  to  improve  the  opportunity  to  state  to  appreciative  hearers 
the  conditions  of  such  success  as  has  been  achieved  in  our 
American  Association  Movement.  In  meeting  these  friends 
we  have  realized  that  success  similar  to  ours  is  certainly  within 
their  reach.  In  many  other  countries  I  have  found  feebleness 
in  Association  work,  but  nowhere  else  such  prime  conditions 
of  speedy  success  as  would  ofifer  themselves  here  in  the  visit 
and  w^ork  of  a  few  good  Secretaries.  These  Christian  laymen 
on  boards  of  directors  are  more  like  our  own  countrymen  of 
similar  standing  than  any  I  have  met  in  other  lands.  I  feel 
a  longing  to  stay  and  work  out  this  problem  to  a  solution ! 
Any  one  of  my  qualified  associates  in  International  or  State 
Work  and  some  in  local  work  could  do  for  city  Associations 
here  w^hat  Secretary'  Mott  accomplished  seven  years  ago  for 
the  Student  Work  by  his  four  months'  visit  in  the  interest  of 
the  World's  Student  Federation. 

Already  at  a  few  points,  excellent  Secretaries  appreciate 
the  situation,  and  are  eager  to  promote  secretarial  efficiency 
on  the  lines  we  have  followed.  With  timely  help  from  us, 
and  with  the  precedent  leadership  and  sympathy  of  their  own 
Student  Movement,  our  Australian  brotherhood  will  in  due 
time  rank — as  their  Student  Unions  now  rank — ^with  our  own 
North  American  Associations. 

Throughout  our  trip  friends  have  given  us  much  more  than 
Association  "w^elcome  and  reception.  We  have  greatly  enjoyed 
the  varied  scenery  through  which  we  have  passed,  especially 
in  Tasmania  and  New  Zealand,  which  have  not  suffered  from 
the  seven  years  of  severe  drought  in  Australia.  This  drought 
was  ended  several  weeks  ago  by  abundant — in  some  instances 
devastating — rain.  Its  long  continuance  has,  for  the  time, 
naturally  discouraged  immigration  into  Australia.  Some  dis- 
couragement of  a  different  sort  has  been  occasioned,  in  the 
two  other  more  favored  colonies,  by  the  influence  of  the  labor 
element  and  labor  unions.  If  among  us  some  fear  we  are  com- 
ing under  the  rule  and  dominion  of  the  capitalist,  in  this  part 
of  the  world  a  similar  apprehension  is  felt  by  some,  lest  the 
reign  of  the  laborer  and  employe  may  prove  to  be  an  experience 
uncomfortable  and  undesirable.  The  complaint — not  unknown 
among  us — is  uttered  here  that  government  and  legislatioDi 


426  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

are  in  the  hands  of  the  less  capable,  and  that  the  indifference 
of  the  better  educated  classes  is  the  bane  of  politics. 

With  Mott's  Student  Work  in  Australia  I  am  deeply  im- 
pressed. There  was,  indeed,  urgent  need  of  our  University 
Association  Movement.  Only  a  man  of  very  commanding  in- 
fluence could  have  set  in  motion  the  sane,  vigorous,  and  grow- 
ing Student  Work  now  in  progress.  His  second  visit  has  been 
signalized  by  the  awakening  of  a  wide  and  deep  interest  in 
home  and  foreign  missionary  work.  As  with  us  and  in  Great 
Britain,  a  first  Student  Missionary  or  Volunteer  Convention 
has  called  together,  both  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand,  a 
larger  convocation  of  undergraduate  students  than  ever  before 
assembled  in  these  colonies." 

Some  Results  of  the  Tour 

The  Association  situation  which  this  letter  describes  so 
deeply  impressed  me  that,  a  few  days  before  leaving  Auckland, 
I  wrote  a  letter  setting  forth  the  weakness  and  strength  of  the 
Australasian  Association  Movement,  and  made  appeal  to  the 
strong  element — the  laymen  in  the  directorship — to  do  what 
they  could,  each  in  his  Association,  to  apjjly  the  secretarial 
remedy  which  the  situation  called  for.  This  letter,  multiplied 
by  the  typewriter,  was  mailed  to  a  list  of  the  Presidents  and 
Directors  of  the  Associations  in  the  cities  where  we  had  been 
their  privileged  guests,  and  where  they  had  listened  to  the 
reports  they  had  asked  from  us,  of  the  Association  work  in 
our  own  cities.  But  I  returned  home  under  the  strong  con- 
viction that  what  was  needed  to  accomplish  the  desired  change, 
was  a  visiting  Secretary  from  our  Movement,  who  could  tarry 
longer  on  the  field  than  I  had  been  able  to  do. 

Soon  after  reaching  home  I  was  rejoiced  to  learn  that  the 
President  and  Directors  of  the  Montreal  Association  were  ar- 
ranging to  give  to  their  faithful  veteran  Secretary,  Daniel 
Budge,  and  his  wife,  in  recognition  of  a  quarter  century  of 
remarkable  service,  a  sabbatical  year  of  absence  from  the  tax- 
ing routine  of  his  strenuous  work.  In  consultation  with  him 
about  his  journey,  on  the  basis  of  our  own  experience  in  mak- 
ing a  similar  tour,  I  described  our  two  months'  experience  in 
Australasia,  and  suggested  that  if  he  could  seize  the  oppor- 
tunity of  a  longer  stay,  he  could  accomplish  a  work,  the  need 
and  value  of  which  he  fully  appreciated.  Further,  as  a 
Canadian,  from  a  sister  colony  of  the  British  Empire,  he  had 


AN  ERA  OF  REMARKABLE  PROGRESS  427 

an  approach  superior  to  what  any  Association  workers  from 
the  United  States  could  command.  His  unselfish  temper  and 
disposition  welcomed  such  a  destination  for  this  year's  tour 
of  freedom  from  official  responsibility.  The  decision  was  as 
unselfishly  concurred  in  by  Mrs.  Budge,  and  his  visit  and  work 
proved  of  untold  blessing  to  the  young  men  of  Australasia. 

Four  months  were  spent  by  him  in  successful  endeavor  to 
place  the  work  on  a  better  footing  in  the  principal  cities.  A 
fund  was  secured  to  pay  the  expenses,  for  the  next  three  years, 
of  the  supervision  which  he  had  successfully  initiated.  After 
his  return  home,  when  it  proved  difficult  to  secure  the  right  man 
for  Supervising  Secretary,  he  consented  to  make  a  second  visit, 
following  up  the  good  results  of  his  first  endeavor. 

Later,  at  our  united  solicitation,  Lyman  L.  Pierce,  at  the 
close  of  his  secretaryship  in  Washington,  D.  C,  and  before  his 
term  of  service  in  Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  and  San  Francisco,  con- 
sented to  spend  nearly  two  years  as  Supervising  Secretary  in 
Australia  and  New  Zealand. 

Continuing  this  good  work,  Fred  B.  Smith,  as  an  Interna- 
tional Secretary,  visited  Australia,  and  in  the  evangelistic  line 
of  service,  efficiently  cooperated  with  Association  leaders  and 
workers.  One  good  result  of  his  visit  was  a  return  visit  in 
1907,  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Sydney  Association,  John  J. 
Virgo,  who  was  cordially  welcomed  to  the  International  Con- 
vention of  that  year  in  Washington,  D.  C,  and  who  cooperated 
in  our  Religious  Work,  being  especially  acceptable  in  the  serv- 
ice of  song. 

During  these  past  years  there  has  been  increasing  intercourse 
between  the  Association  workers  on  both  continents.  Young 
men  from  Australia  have  come,  and  continue  to  come,  to  our 
Training  Colleges  and  Summer  Schools.  Some  tarry  with  us, 
and  others  return  to  render  more  efficient  service  to  the  young 
men  and  boys  of  Australia  and  New  Zealand. 

Connected  with  this  growing  intercourse  with  the  Associa- 
tion men  of  Australia  was  the  urgent  call  from  the  London 
Committee  and  Association  to  Secretary  John  J.  Virgo,  of 
Sydney,  to  the  General  Secretaryship  of  the  parent  Association 
in  London,  made  vacant  in  1908  by  the  sudden  death  of  John 
Putterill. 

Similar  intercourse  with  fellow  workers  in  South  Africa  was 


428  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

promoted  by  the  visits  of  John  R.  Mott  and  Fred  B.  Smith, 
and  in  1910  John  S.  Tichenor,  an  International  Secretary  of 
the  Army  and  Navy  Department,  accepted  a  call  to  become 
Secretary  of  the  National  Committee  of  South  Africa.  He 
served  acceptably  for  two  years  and  then  returned  to  become 
chief  Secretary  of  the  Army  and  Navy  Department.  Besides 
Tichenor,  four  other  Secretaries  from  North  America,  upon 
suggestion  from  the  office  of  the  International  Committee,  have 
been  called  to  secretarial  service  in  South  Africa,  and  have 
rendered  a  temporary  service  of  value. 

By  the  effect  upon  Australian,  New  Zealand,  and  South 
African  Association  Movements  of  visitation  and  visitors  from 
North  America,  one  is  reminded  of  the  effect  of  similar  visita- 
tion years  before  this  upon  the  German  Movement  by  von 
Schluembach^  and  upon  the  work  in  France  and  Russia  by 
Franklin  Gaylord. 

Progress  of  Local  and  International  Work 

These  last  ten  years  of  Dr.  Warner's  chairmanship  coincided 
with  the  first  decade  of  the  new  century,  and  were  a  period 
of  rapidly  accelerated  growth  within  the  North  American  Asso- 
ciation Movement. 

Among  the  outstanding  features  of  this  growth  were  the 
increase  of  employed  officers  of  growing  capacity  and  the  en- 
listment of  laymen  of  ability  as  Directors  and  Committeemen. 

The  entire  employed  force  in  1901  numbered  1,500 ;  in  1911, 
3,500.  The  total  of  current  expenses  for  1901  was  over  $3,000,- 
000,  in  1911  over  |11,000,000,  and  the  $22,000,000  invested  in 
Association  buildings  in  1901  had  become  |60,000,000  in  1911. 
This  growing  financial  support  was  an  expression  of  growing 
confidence  in  the  Association  by  citizens  of  public  spirit,  who 
gave  generously  for  a  better  equipment  of  the  work. 

In  the  achievement  of  this  progress  the  International  Com- 
mittee continued  a  substantial  factor,  steadily  increasing  the 
strength  of  its  membership  and  staff.  At  the  beginning  of  this 
period  of  enlargement  the  million  dollar  permanent  fund  had 
been  wisely  secured  as  a  strong  financial  reenforcement.  Each 
sub-committee  and  its  staff  were  assuming  an  increasing  re- 
sponsibility for  both  expense  and  administration,  and  the  wise 

1  Pp.  182-5,  233-6, 


AN  ERA  OF  REMARKABLE  PROGRESS  429 

rule  had  been  adopted  that  no  Secretary  could  be  added  to  the 
staff  of  the  Committee  until  his  salary  and  expenses  had  been 
provided  for.  This  provision  the  sub-committee  needing  him 
was  expected  to  secure.  Before  1904  four  new  departments 
— Army  and  Navy,  Boys,  County,  and  Industrial — had  in- 
creased the  number  to  fifteen. 

A  sixteenth — the  Secretarial — emerged  from  the  Central 
Office,  where  it  had  been  located  and  growing  from  the  begin- 
ning, first  under  the  General  Secretary,  then  since  187G  under 
Erskine  Uhl  and  Jacob  Bowne,  until  in  1889,  their  successor 
began  a  career  not  yet  ended.  Of  him  after  his  first  decade 
of  service  I  reported  in  the  Year  Book  of  1899 :  "John  Glover 
has  maintained  the  high  efficiency  of  the  Secretarial  Bureau. 
During  the  last  two  years  (1897-99)  294  applications  to  fill 
vacancies  have  been  received  by  him,  of  which  134  were  filled 
by  our  help  and  164  by  other  agencies."  Beginning  with  the 
Year  Book  of  1906,  the  Secretarial  Department  is  listed  among 
those  of  "internal  development"  with  John  Glover  as  its  Sec- 
retary. My  consciousness  and  advocacy  of  it  as  a  department 
would  have  listed  it  as  such  much  earlier  than  this  date.  But 
the  fact  that  every  one  of  the  staff  lent  a  hand  in  its  activities 
had  caused  it  to  linger  in  the  Central  Office. 

Charles  S.  Ward,  Field  and  Financial  Secretary 

A  seventeenth  department  was  created  by  Field  Secretary 
Charles  S.  Ward  in  his  development  of  the  short  campaign 
method  of  securing  Association  building  funds.  During  the 
four  years  ending  in  1909  he  conducted  by  this  now  familiar 
method  campaigns  resulting  in  |6,500,000.  This  money  was 
given  by  140,000  people  and  was  solicited  by  7,500  committee 
workers.  More  important  than  the  money  was  the  enlistment 
of  the  workers  who  solicited  and  the  men  who  gave.  In  each 
instance  it  was  "a  civic  movement  of  significant  helpfulness 
to  the  community  and  its  citizenship  and  to  the  kingdom  of 
God."  It  enlisted  forces  and  fellowships  which  afterwards 
worked  effectively  in  other  enterprises  for  the  public  good. 
During  these  four  years  the  buildings  increased  in  number 
from  517  to  680,  their  value  from  .^28,000,000  to  .$47,000,000.  It 
was  a  good  beginning  of  a  building  movement  which  Secretary 
Ward  continues  to  lead,  so  that  in  1917  the  buildings  number 


430  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

800,  valued  with  other  real  estate  at  190,000,000.  Of  this  total 
the  campaigns  led  by  Secretary  Ward  in  106  cities  have  yielded 
nearly  |35,000,000.  In  1912  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  con- 
duct a  campaign  in  London,  which  re*<ulted  in  a  fund  with 
which  was  erected  the  first  Association  building  in  that  city 
planned  and  completed  to  accommodate  the  fourfold  Associa- 
tion work.  In  1917  w^hen  for  the  Red  Cross  a  fund  of  1100,000,- 
000  was  needed,  he  organized  that  national  campaign  of  solici- 
tation in  which  within  ten  days  the  amount  was  oversubscribed. 

The  Latest  San  Francisco  Building 

Not  all  the  new  buildings  of  this  period  were  obtained  by 
the  short  campaign  method.  A  notable  exception  was  the 
present  San  Francisco  building.  In  1906  earthquake  and  fire 
created  in  that  city  a  desolation  out  of  which  came  an  im- 
portunate, imperative  call  for  a  half  million  dollar  fund  to 
be  secured  beyond  the  city  limits.  Some  time  before  this  Presi- 
dent Theodore  Roosevelt  had  presided  in  San  Francisco  at  the 
impressive  and  joyous  ceremony  of  the  burning  of  the  mortgage 
upon  the  Association  building  which  had  now  perished.  I 
joined  Secretary  McCoy  in  a  call  upon  the  President  at  the 
White  House  and  in  a  request  for  his  cooperation ;  it  was  cheer- 
fully given  in  the  form  of  a  helpful  letter  which  we  carried 
with  us  to  New  York.  There  we  hoped  to  secure  most  of  the 
fund.  I  was  vividly  reminded  of  McCoy's  coming  to  our  city 
twenty-five  years  before  this  time  to  receive  a  call  to  San 
Francisco  from^  Jesup,  Dodge,  Moody,  and  McBurney.  Dodge 
and  McBurney  were  no  longer  living,  but  Cleveland  H.  Dodge 
received  McCoy  most  cordially  and  consented  to  be  Treasurer 
of  the  Committee  to  aid  in  securing  the  Fund.  Morris  K. 
Jesup  was  then  sought  at  his  country  seat.  It  was  now  Mc- 
Coy's turn  to  solicit  and  he  received  a  reply  as  favorable  as 
he  himself  had  given  twenty-five  years  before.  For  not  only 
was  Mr.  Jesup  willing  to  act  as  Chairman  of  the  Fund  Com- 
mittee but  he  offered  |50,000  as  the  first  contribution.  Mrs. 
William  E.  Dodge  and  her  son  offered  an  even  larger  amount. 
John  D.  Rockefeller  was  absent  in  Europe  but  by  cable  his 
offer  of  half  (|250,000)  the  fund  reached  us.    And,  when  even 

'Pp.  179,  180. 


AN  ERA  OF  REMARKABLE  PROGRESS  431 

with  these  substantial  gifts,  McCoy's  path  to  the  goal  proved 
difficult,  the  treasurer  completed  the  fund  by  a  gift  of  the 
balance  ($30,000)  needed,  and  McCoy  returned  to  the  stricken 
city  and  Association  with  this  generous  tribute  by  old  friends 
and  new  to  the  quarter  century  of  faithful  successful  service 
he  had  given  to  the  young  men  of  the  Pacific  Coast. 

Two  Associate  General  Secretaries 

Beyond  other  members  of  the  Committee's  stafif  two  were 
carrying  responsibilities  specially  helpful  to  the  General  Sec- 
retary. Mott  already  was  responsible  for  the  Student  and 
Foreign  Work.  Clarence  J.  Hicks  had  been  the  efficient  Secre- 
tary of  the  Railroad  Department  since  1890  and  remarkable 
progress  had  been  made  by  him  in  extending  this  work  upon 
interstate  systems.  Probably  no  department  on  the  home  field 
had  developed  more  rapidly  during  the  decade,  and  he  had  also 
enlisted  and  developed  a  group  of  well  chosen,  well  qualified 
men  on  the  railroad  stafif.  Both  Mott  and  Hicks  attended  the 
World's  Conference  of  1898  and  succeeded  McBuruey  on  the 
Delegates'  Committee. 

All  the  reasons  which  had  led  me  in  1895  to  suggest  a  suc- 
cessor in  the  person  of  Mott  had  greater  weight  now.  I  was 
older — arriving  in  1901  at  the  age,  sixty  years,  to  which  I  had 
always  looked  forward  as  the  time  of  withdrawal  from  the 
secretaryship.  If  further  continuance  in  office  was  desired, 
it  was  urgently  necessary  to  distribute  more  of  the  official 
responsibilities  than  I  had  yet  succeeded  in  doing.  Could  not 
these  two  Secretaries,  by  deputing  to  their  associates  some  of 
their  present  responsibilities,  undertake  more  of  the  obligations 
of  the  General  Secretary?  This  question  was  carefully  con- 
sidered with  the  Executive  Committee  and  other  counsellors. 
All  were  in  favor  of  such  an  arrangement. 

At  the  September  meeting  of  1900,  in  a  long  and  intimate 
deliberation  with  Mott  and  Hicks,  we  went  over  the  whole  sub- 
ject. On  their  part  one  condition  of  the  new  arrangement 
was  a  withdrawal,  as  soon  as  practicable,  from  their  positions 
at  the  head  of  the  Student  and  Railroad  Departments,  that 
they  might  be  released  to  an  equal  relation  to  all  departments 
— one  to  the  home  and  the  other  to  the  foreign  field — and  to 
the  work  as  a  whole. 


432  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Another  agreement  between  us  was  that  I  should  not  be  ex- 
pected at  any  time  to  act  as  mediator  or  harmonizer  between 
the  two  Associates.  They  were  to  depend  wholly  upon  one 
another  to  keep  the  peace,  if  any  threat  of  disturbance  in  any 
direction  should  arise.  Without  such  a  Median  and  Persian 
rule  of  relationships,  it  did  not  seem  to  me  to  be  worth  while 
to  undertake  the  fellowship  and  its  responsibilities.  This  item 
in  the  agreement  received  a  hearty  assent, 'and  was  consistently 
lived  up  to.  It  stimulated  from  the  beginning  entire  frank- 
ness among  all  of  us. 

The  result  of  this  brotherly  and  satisfactory  conference  was 
reported  to  the  Committee  and  in  its  turn  the  Committee  re- 
ported to  the  Jubilee  Convention  of  1901  as  follows:  "The 
division  of  the  work  into  two  general  departments — the  home 
and  foreign — has  been  continued,  and,  in  order  to  give  the 
General  Secretary  time  to  attend  to  the  more  important  mat- 
ters of  general  supervision  and  administration,  the  Committee, 
after  fifteen  months  of  careful  experimentation  has  appointed 
as  Associate  General  Secretaries,  to  cooperate  with  Mr.  Morse, 
Clarence  J.  Hicks  for  the  Home,  and  John  R.  Mott  for  the 
Foreign  Department." 

This  new  arrangement  ended  the  General  Secretaryship  of 
the  Committee's  whole  work,  which  I  had  held  since  1872. 
Informally  for  nearly  two  years  both  these  Associates  already 
had  given  me  such  brotherly  cooperation,  and  had  undertaken 
such  responsibilities  that  the  new  arrangement  was  really  be- 
gun before  it  was  formally  adopted  by  Committee  and  Con- 
vention. 

This  secretarial  partnership  continued  in  force  for  nearly 
eleven  years  in  unbroken  brotherly  harmony.  Enough  concert 
of  action  was  secured  to  keep  together  all  parts  and  depart- 
ments of  the  Committee's  administration  and  the  fellow 
workers  identified  with  each. 

In  planning  and  holding  (1)  monthly  meetings  of  the  whole 
Committee,  (2)  the  annual  meetings  of  the  Committee  and  its 
entire  staff,  (3)  the  anniversary  dinner  with  several  hundred 
friends  of  the  work  as  guests,  (4)  the  triennial  Conventions 
of  the  period — two  of  which  were  Jubilee  Commemorations, 
also  in  attending  World  Conferences,  and  in  all  the  consulta- 
tions over  major  problems  of  the  Committee  and  its  work,  three 


.Tdiix  R.  ^foii,  Ci.AUKNc  K  J.  Hicks,  axd  Rk  hahd  C.  Mohse 


AN  ERA  OF  REMARKABLE  PROGRESS  433 

instead  of  only  one  were  now  available  to  discharge  the  ever 
growing  responsibilities  of  the  General  Secretaryship. 

Progress  on  the  Foreign  Field 

Under  Mott's  progressive  leadership,  the  staff  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  foreign  field  rajiidlj'  increased  during  this  decade. 
In  1903  "the  coordinate  Foreign  Department''  was  organized 
and  a  vice  chairman,  William  D.  Murray,  was  elected  as  the 
head  of  it  with  six  committeemen  as  his  associates.  Mott  was 
in  charge  of  the  secretarial  administration  at  the  home  base, 
with  Hans  P.  Andersen  and  Ethan  T.  Colton  as  his  helpers. 
Thirty-eight  Secretaries  were  placed  in  strategic  city  and  uni- 
versity centers  in  ten  countries  of  Asia  and  Latin  America 
and  six  of  these  with  six  Japanese  fellow-workers  were  begin- 
ning in  the  Japanese  Army  Association  work  "similar  to  that 
carried  on  by  the  Committee  during  our  war  with  Spain." 
Fletcher  S.  Brockman,  National  Secretary  for  China,  Edward 
C.  Carter  and  G.  Sherwood  Eddy  for  India,  Galen  M.  Fisher 
for  Japan,  Myron  A.  Clark  for  Brazil,  with  their  associates, 
were  calling  for  needed  reenforcements  in  men  and  buildings. 
Such  response  came  from  the  home  base  that  at  the  end  of  this 
decade  the  foreign  staff  numbered  132  Secretaries  who  were  so 
well  located  and  so  efficiently  at  work  at  city  and  university 
centers  in  fifteen  countries  that  a  Conference  at  the  White 
House,  invited  by  President  Taft  when  approached  by  Mott 
and  Brockman,  resulted  in  securing  two  million  dollars  to 
plant  over  forty  Association  buildings  upon  the  foreign  field. 

It  was  during  these  years  that  Secretary  E.  T.  Colton  at  the 
home  base  began,  with  rare  faith,  patience,  and  persistence,  to 
carry  his  appeal  for  the  Foreign  Work  to  the  conscience  of  the 
leaders,  directors,  and  workers  of  the  local  Associations.  From 
the  beginning  the  Foreign  Work  had  been  supported  by  in- 
dividual donors  or  groups  of  donors  in  the  local  Associations 
who  offered  to  give  for  a  specified  period.  But  Colton  carried 
the  appeal  of  the  work  to  the  conscience  of  the  individual  Asso- 
ciation and  its  management  with  such  wisdom  and  persistence 
that  favorable  reply  began  to  come — slowly  at  first,  but  surely 
as  the  years  of  his  arduous  endeavor  passed  by.  The  coronation 
of  this  noble  achievement  arrived  years  afterward  in  connec- 
tion with  the  fine  cooperation  of  Secretary  Messer,  of  Chicago, 


434  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

during  his  world  tour  of  1913  and  '14  and  in  the  report  of  the 
Commission  bearing  his  name  to  the  Cleveland  Convention  of 
191G.  That  memorable  Convention  responded  by  authorizing 
a  statf  of  200  foreign  Secretaries,  an  annual  budget  of  |G00,000 
plus  an  annual  expenditure  for  foreign  buildings  of  $500,000 
and  b}'  recommending  ''that  the  North  American  Associations 
recognize  that  the  obligation  for  the  foreign  work  program 
rests  primarily  upon  our  Associations  and  that  each  Associa- 
tion annually,  through  its  board  of  directors,  should  adopt 
an  adequate  foreign  work  program." 

Resignation  of  Secretary  Hicks 

In  the  eleventh  year  of  his  Associate  General  Secretaryship, 
Hicks  had  occasion  to  consider  very  seriously  the  offer  from 
a  member  of  the  Committee  of  a  very  important  business  posi- 
tion. Before  he  reached  a  conclusion,  we  three  Associates,  at 
his  request,  had  met  together  three  times  for  careful  and 
thorough  discussion  of  the  question.  In  the  atmosphere  of 
the  trustful,  brotherly  deliberation  in  which  we  had  worked  to- 
gether harmoniously  he  desired  to  settle  this  vital  question. 
The  considerations  relating  to  himself  and  his  family,  to  his 
fellow  Secretaries,  and  to  his  life  work,  'which  finally  pre- 
vailed with  us  need  not  be  enumerated,  but  we  all  agreed 
heartily  that  the  wise  course  for  him  was  to  accept  the  very 
desirable  offer  which  had  come  to  him,  unsolicited.    ■ 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Committee  (November,  1911) 
his  resignation  was  accepted  and  the  acceptance  was  accom- 
panied by  the  Committee's  strong  and  heartfelt  recognition  of 
the  remarkable  service  which  during  twentj^  years  he  had  ren- 
dered as  an  International  Secretary.  In  the  path  he  has  fol- 
lowed since  this  decision,  he  has  entered  upon  Association  and 
Christian  welfare  work  among  men  of  the  industrial  classes 
at  the  west  first,  and  now  (1917)  in  the  east.  In  this  good  work 
he  is  joined  by  some  of  his  former  fellow  Secretaries.  He  is 
showing  the  same  capacity  for  leadership  and  usefulness  which 
made  him  for  so  many  years  deservedly  eminent  among  the 
efficient  Secretaries  of  the  International  Committee. 

In  the  following  paragraphs  of  this  chapter  are  given  the 
outstanding  features  upon  the  home  field  of  the  last  decade 
(1901-1910)  of  Dr.  Warner's  administration. 


AN  ERA  OF  REMARKABLE  PROGRESS  436 

The  North  American  Jubilee  of  1901  at  Montreal  and 

Boston 

The  origin  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  dates 
from  the  beginning  of  the  local  Association,  but  its  more 
orderly  development  and  efficiency  began  later  with  the  agen- 
cies of  supervision  which  these  local  Associations  created  in 
conference  and  convention.  The  local  Association,  therefore, 
in  Europe  dates  its  Jubilee  from  1844  at  London  and  in  North 
America  from  1851  at  Montreal  and  Boston.  But  while  in 
Europe  the  agencies  of  international  supervision  date  their 
Jubilee  from  the  first  World's  Conference  at  Paris  in  1855,  it 
was  at  an  earlier  date,  in  1854,  that  the  first  International 
Convention  met  in  North  America  at  Buffalo.  Accordingly 
the  remarkable  growth  of  this  brotherhood  during  its  first 
half-century  suggested  four  Jubilee  celebrations,  two  local  and 
two  general,  to  take  place  in  1804  at  London ;  in  1901  at  Mon- 
treal and  Boston ;  in  1904  at  Buffalo,  and  in  1905  at  Paris. 
Of  the  first  of  these  commemorations  by  the  World's  Confer- 
ence at  London  in  1894,  and  of  my  relation  to  it,  account  has 
already  been  given. ^ 

The  second,  like  the  first,  commemorated  the  origin  of  the 
local  Association,  and  was  fittingly  observed  for  North  America 
in  the  two  cities  of  Montreal  and  Boston,  where  in  1851,  within 
a  few  weeks  of  one  another,  the  first  two  Associations  in  North 
America,  without  any  knowledge  each  of  the  other,  were 
organized  by  suggestion  from  the  parent  society  in  London. 

The  two  North  American  Jubilees  of  1901  and  1904,  there- 
fore, occurred  between  the  dates  of  the  two  held  in  Europe, 
for  while  the  parent  local  Association  was  formed  in  London, 
the  American  Associations  were  more  prompt  than  the  older 
European  Associations  in  forming  a  representative  interna- 
tional organization  and  the  first  International  Association 
Convention  met  in  North  America  at  Buffalo  (1854)  a  year 
before  the  first  World's  Conference  in  Paris  (1855). 

A  Stormy  Preparation  for  a  Jubilee 

Of  the  first  two  Associations  in  North  America,  the  one  at 
Boston  adopted  the  evangelical  church  basis  as  a  part  of  its 

« Pp.  244-50. 


436  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Constitution,  while  the  Montreal  Association  followed  this 
precedent  a  ^ear  or  more  afterward.  In  this  fundamental  pro- 
vision, the  Boston  society  has  been  followed  by  all  the  North 
American  Associations,  which  were  never  more  loyal  to  the 
Church  than  at  the  close  of  their  first  fifty  years. 

To  the  Convention  at  Grand  Rapids  in  1899,  the  delegations 
from  Montreal  and  Boston  naturally  brought  competing  invita- 
tions for  the  next  Convention,  which  was  to  be  held  in  the 
Jubilee  year.  A  competition  between  invitations  to  the  next 
meeting,  however,  was  an  incident  of  every  Convention.  Ac- 
cording to  a  convention  rule,  after  these  usual  competing  invi- 
tations had  been  presented  in  five  minute  talks  they  were  in- 
variably referred  to  the  International  Committee  for  a  later 
final  decision.  Any  protracted  discussion  and  difiicult  decision 
on  the  floor  of  the  Convention  was  thus  avoided.  But  in  this 
exceptional  competition  for  a  Jubilee  commemoration,  the  Com- 
mittee asked  the  Convention  to  make  the  decision.  In  comply- 
ing with  this  request  relating  to  such  an  historic  meeting,  the 
Convention  should  have  suspended  its  rule  and  allowed  suffi- 
cient time  to  discuss  the  merits  or  claims  of  the  two  invitations, 
coming  as  they  did  also  from  delegates  of  two  dififerent  na- 
tionalities. The  attempt  to  confine  the  discussion  to  the  usual 
ten  minutes  resulted  in  a  conclusion  reached  too  hurriedly  with- 
out sufficient  discussion.  The  Montreal  invitation  was  accepted 
by  the  large  majority  vote  of  245  to  80.  It  was  Saturday  morn- 
ing, in  the  last  business  session  of  the  Convention  when  this 
vote  was  taken.  As  the  program  stood,  the  afternoon  was  to 
be  occupied  with  sectional  meetings  and  the  evening  session 
wholly  with  addresses. 

During  the  afternoon  I  became  most  painfully  aware  of  a 
serious  disappointment,  amounting  to  indignation,  felt  by  a 
large  group  of  delegates,  because  of  the  unjust  denial  to  them 
of  an  opportunity  to  present  the  considerations  favorable  to 
the  acceptance  of  the  Boston  invitation.  Was  it  too  late  to 
get  the  subject  before  the  Convention  for  a  more  deliberative 
consideration?  What  would  the  Canadian  brethren  think  of 
a  movement,  which  on  the  face  of  it  was  so  discourteous  to 
Canada's  foremost  Association? 

After  the  evening  session  had  been  begun,  an  anxious  coun- 
cil   of   leading   delegates   met    on    the   platform,    behind    the 


AN  ERA  OF  REMARKABLE  PROGRESS  437 

speakers.  There  was  a  uuauiinous  conviction  that,  in  the  in- 
terest of  fair  play,  an  opportunity  for  reconsideration  was 
called  for.  President  C.  T.  Williams  of  the  Montreal  delegation, 
who  had  courteously  and  convincingly  presented  the  invita- 
tion from  his  city,  shared  in  this  deliberation,  and  in  the  finest 
Christian  spirit  took  the  ground  that  the  Convention  was  en- 
titled to  judge  for  itself  whether  it  had  made  a  mistake. 

A  veteran  member  of  the  Committee  on  the  International 
Committee's  report,  Wm.  K.  Jennings,  of  Pittsburgh,  who  had 
voted  in  favor  of  Montreal,  was  willing  to  move  a  reconsidera- 
tion, and  Secretary  Edwin  F.  See,  of  Brooklyn,  was  willing 
to  second  the  motion.  Walter  Douglas,  the  Philadelphia  Sec- 
retary, who  had  been  prevented  by  the  time  limit  from  mak- 
ing the  principal  plea  for  Boston,  was  willing  now  to  make  that 
plea.  At  the  close  of  the  evening  session,  a  reconsideration 
was  accomplished,  and  after  thirty  minutes  of  discussion,  in 
which  Secretary  Douglas  and  President  Williams  took  part, 
the  Convention  reversed  its  action  of  the  afternoon,  and  ac- 
cepted the  invitation  from  Boston  by  a  vote  of  245  to  38. 

It  was  perhaps  the  most  unexpected,  trying,  and  exciting 
of  convention  incidents  in  my  experience.  No  such  sudden 
change  of  opinion  and  vote,  by  so  many  delegates,  could  be  ac- 
complished without  many  disappointments  and  heart  burnings ; 
but  that  the  change  was  a  wise  one  the  result  abundantly, 
demonstrated.  Probably  nowhere  in  our  brotherhood  was  this 
conviction  more  intelligent  and  hearty  finally  than  at  Montreal, 
and  in  the  mind  and  heart  of  President  Williams,  who  from 
the  first  acted  the  part  of  a  Christian  gentleman.  But  the 
process  of  arriving  at  this  wide,  general,  and  gracious  con- 
viction was  made  anxious  and  diflScult  by  the  unhappy  pro- 
cedure through  which  the  Grand  Rapids  Convention  reached 
its  final  vote. 

There  were  many  misunderstandings  to  correct,  and  it  was 
my  lot  to  encounter  not  a  few  of  them.  Soon  after  the  Con- 
vention adjourned.  Secretary  Budge,  who  at  the  time  of  the 
Convention  was  abroad,  returned  to  Montreal  and  encountered 
so  many  queries  and  misunderstandings,  that  he  and  President 
Williams  asked  me  to  come  to  that  city  and  meet  the  Directors 
of  the  Association  in  the  interest  of  a  better  understanding 
of  what  had  taken  place  at  the  Convention.    This  was  indeed 


438  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

a  brotherly  attitude  on  the  part  of  wise,  sympathetic  friends, 
who  insisted  ou  securing  correct  information  from  headquar- 
ters. All  the  members  of  the  Montreal  Board  of  Directors 
came  together  to  meet  me.  With  some  of  the  misunderstand- 
ings I  was  acquainted;  others  appeared  in  the  protracted 
deliberation  of  that  evening.  With  the  invaluable  help  ot  both 
President  and  Secretary,  every  one  of  these  was  frankly  and 
fully  considered  and  corrected,  and  another  attempt  of  the 
adversary  to  destroy  brotherly  confidence  between  fellow 
workers  was  happily  defeated. 

The  Program  of  the  Jubilee  Convention 

Upon  the  adjournment  of  the  Convention  of  1899  the  Inter- 
national Committee  began  preparation  for  the  Jubilee  Com- 
memoration. At  its  annual  September  meeting  with  the  Sec- 
retaries, an  elaborate  program  was  presented  by  Secretary' 
Mott,  which  included  memorial  exercises  at  Montreal  as  well 
as  at  the  Convention  in  Boston.  In  addition  to  the  convention 
sessions,  it  was  proposed  to  make  a  thorough  historical  exhibit 
of  the  entire  work — local,  State,  and  International — in  all 
its  departments,  including  the  development  of  each.  During 
the  two  years  of  this  preparation  in  the  many  tasks  involved, 
Mott  and  Hicks  began  effectively  their  Associate  General  Sec- 
retaryship before  either  Committee  or  Convention  had  created 
the  office. 

Another  collaborator  of  first  rank  was  the  senior  member 
of  the  Committee,  James  Stokes.  For  many  years,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  World's  Committee,  he  had  been  deeply  and  gen- 
erously interested  in  Association  work  in  Europe  and  desirous 
of  promoting  a  visit  to  the  North  American  Associations  by 
a  number  of  the  elect  leaders  and  Association  workers  on  the 
parent  continent.  At  the  World's  Conference  of  1898  in  Basle, 
he  had  met  Secretary  Christian  Phildius,  of  Berlin,  and  Pastor 
Christian  King,  Chairman  of  the  German  National  Committee, 
both  of  whom  had  manifested  an  active  interest  in  such  a  visit 
to  the  American  Associations.  By  the  generous  provision  of 
Mr.  Stokes  these  two  friends,  with  a  group  of  other  European 
delegates,  were  enabled  to  cross  the  Atlantic  and  attend  the 
Jubilee.  They  were  among  the  seventy-six  foreign  representa- 
tives who  came  as  fraternal  delegates  from  fourteen  countries 


AN  ERA  OF  REMARKABLE  PROGRESS  439 

of  Europe,  and  from  China,  India,  Japan,  Brazil,  South  Africa, 
and  Australia. 

The  great  themes  appropriate  to  the  Jubilee  were  carefully 
worked  out,  and  speakers  secured  who  fulfilled  all  expectations. 

To  the  Commemoration  at  Montreal,  June  9-10,  there  came 
as  a  principal  speaker,  the  son  of  Sir  George  Williams,  Howard 
Williams,  who  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  represent  his 
honored  father.  He  and  Mott  made  very  appropriate  addresses 
at  the  unveiling  of  a  memorial  tablet  in  Montreal,  where  were 
present  the  Chairman  of  the  International  Committee,  Dr. 
Lucien  C.  Warner,  Vice-Chairman  Marling,  the  General  Sec- 
retary, and  other  oflScers  of  the  Committee. 

At  Montreal  and  Boston  Lord  Kinnaird  represented  the  Eng- 
lish National  Council,  and  its  Secretary,  W.  H.  Mills,  and  the 
London  Secretary,  J.  H.  Putterill,  were  also  among  the  Brit- 
ish representatives.  National  General  Secretaries  Sautter,  of 
France,  and  Helbing,  of  Germany,  and  General  Secretaries 
Fermaud  and  Phildius  of  the  World's  Committee  were  also 
present. 

The  Convention  exceeded  any  of  its  predecessors  in  number 
of  delegates — 1,198 — and  corresponding  members — 1,365 — 
and  fittingly  commemorated  in  point  of  attendance  the  remark- 
able growth  of  the  Associations  during  their  first  half-cen- 
tury. 

The  living  veterans  from  the  period  before  the  Civil  War 
were  present  in  force.  William  E.  Dodge  was  chosen  Presi- 
dent, and  Howard  Williams,  as  the  representative  of  his  father, 
was  chosen  honorary  President.  Cephas  Brainerd  made  one 
of  the  principal  addresses.  James  Stokes,  as  Vice-President, 
presided  on  Jubilee  Memorial  day.  Seventy-six  delegates  had 
come  across  almost  all  the  oceans  to  represent  Associations 
upon  all  the  other  continents.  The  British  and  German  delega- 
tions received  and  presented  cablegram  greetings  from  King 
and  Kaiser. 

The  Exhibit  the  Commanding  Feature 

But  the  distinctive  Jubilee  feature  which  commanded 
thoughtful  attention  beyond  all  others,  was  a  complete  historic 
exhibit  of  the  work  of  the  North  American  Associations,  most 
ably  and  originally  conceived  and  put  together  by  Educational 


440  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Secretary  George  B.  Hodge — admirable  forecast  of  the  yet 
greater  work  on  this  line  which  he  was  to  begin  in  1916  as  the 
expert  head  of  the  Committee's  Bureau  of  Records.^  This 
Jubilee  exhibit  was  composed  of  diagrams,  maps,  charts,  photo- 
graphs, models,  and  historic  articles  and  souvenirs.  These 
were  planted  on  51,000  square  feet  of  floor  space  and  presented 
vividly  the  varied  lines  of  Association  work — physical,  educa- 
tional, social,  and  spiritual.  In  this  way  was  pictured  the  dis- 
tribution of  this  many-sided  work  among  the  many  classes  of 
young  men  by  whom  it  had  been  adopted  and  adapted  so  as  to 
become  a  form  of  efficient  Christian  social  welfare  work.  It 
was  examined  by  many  thoughtful  visitors  who  came  more 
than  once  to  study  it.  It  revealed  very  clearly  the  number  and 
variety  of  these  classes  of  young  men,  in  city  and  country,  in 
trade  and  commerce,  in  school  and  university,  on  the  railroad, 
in  mill,  factory,  mine  and  quarry,  on  the  farm,  in  Army  and 
Navy,  and  not  only  in  North  America,  but  in  Asia,  South 
America,  and  the  Levant,  whither  its  message  and  methods  had 
been  carried  by  qualified  leaders  and  workers  from  North 
America. 

In  this  central  significant  feature  the  commemoration  pre- 
sented an  interesting  contrast  to  the  preceding  local  Associa- 
tion Jubilee  at  London  in  181)4,  where  the  whole  conspicuous 
emphasis  was  upon  a  presentation  of  the  work  of  the  brother- 
hood in  impressive  discourse  from  pulpit  and  platform,  and  in 
the  noble  exalting  personality  of  the  Founder,  Sir  George 
Williams. 

For  twenty-four  years,  since  1877,  the  Conventions  had  met 
biennially.  At  Boston  there  was  a  strong  prevailing  reason 
for  making  the  next  interval  a  triennial  one,  since  in  1904 
would  arrive  the  Jubilee  year  of  the  Convention  itself,  which 
had  met  first  at  Buffalo  in  1854.  Without  discussion  it  was 
voted  to  accept  the  invitation  from  Buffalo  to  hold  the  next 
Convention  in  that  city,  in  the  year  1904,  and  in  commemora 
tion  of  the  Jubilee  of  North  American  Association  supervision. 
In  1877,  in  order  to  make  the  convention  meetings  biennial, 
a  serious,  ijrotracted  and  critical  discussion  was  necessary. 
Now  the  Convention  became  triennial  without  a  sign  of  opposi- 
tion in  this  or  any  succeeding  Convention. 

«P.  271. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
CONTINUED  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  PROGRESS 

North  American  Jubilee  of  1904  at  Buffalo 

Only  two  years  had  been  given  to  preparation  for  the  Jubilee 
celebration  of  1901,  but  for  the  controversy  which  was  the 
absorbing  theme  of  the  Jubilee  Convention  of  1904,  preparation 
had  been  in  progress  for  many  years.  The  subject  of  this 
controversy  was  the  relation  existing,  and  which  should  exist, 
between  the  agencies  of  supervision — the  International  and 
the  State  and  Provincial  organizations.  The  relation  between 
these  began  to  be  formed  as  early  as  1866,  when  the  Interna- 
tional Convention  of  that  year  voted  to  promote,  through  its 
corresponding  members  in  each  State  and  Province,  a  second 
agency  of  supervision — the  State  and  Provincial  Conventions, 
with  their  executive  Committees.  These  were  formed  on  the 
pattern  of  the  International  organization. 

A  Convention  devoted  to  an  exciting  debate  ending  in  a 
decisive  vote  did  not  seem  appropriate  to  a  Jubilee  celebration, 
and  in  accord  with  the  precedent  of  other  Jubilees  the  friends 
and  leaders  of  either  agency  would  not  have  chosen  such  an 
arena.  Following  precedent,  the  principal  object  would  have 
been  to  set  forth  at  Buflfalo  the  many  achievements  of  these 
agencies  of  supervision,  which  had  strongly  contributed  to  the 
remarkable  growth  of  the  Associations.  But  by  the  gracious 
guidance  of  a  better  wisdom  than  our  own,  and  by  that  divine 
presence  and  help  which  has  been  granted  this  brotherhood, 
especially  in  its  hours  of  sorest  need,  this  remarkable  con- 
troversy was  conducted  in  such  a  Christian  and  brotherly 
spirit  as  to  reflect  credit  upon  those  engaged  in  it,  and  to  result 
in  Jubilee  blessings  upon  1,300  delegates,  their  agencies  of 
supervision,  and  the  leaders  and  workers  of  these  agencies. 
Its  beneficent  outlook  was  upon  the  future  and  very  slightly 
but  not  slightingly  on  the  past.  The  opinion  of  a  large 
majority  prevailed  at  the  Convention,  but  this  led  in  the  future 

441 


442  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

not  to  a  growing  separation  but  to  a  growing  unity  within  the 
brotherhood. 

The  Usual  Jubilee  Features 

Some  of  the  usual  features  of  a  Jubilee,  however,  were  care- 
fully provided  for.  The  Convention  was  held  at  Buffalo,  the 
place  where  the  first  International  Convention  had  met  in 
1854.  The  few  survivors  from  among  the  thirty-seven  dele- 
gates who  attended  the  first  Convention  were  corresponded 
with,  and  of  the  number  four  were  present.  Among  these  was 
Oscar  Cobb,  of  Buffalo,  who,  in  1854,  as  host  for  the  Buffalo 
Association,  had  been  one  of  the  signers  of  the  call  to  that 
first  Convention.  He  had  been  graciously  spared  to  sign,  at 
the  age  of  8.3,  the  call  to  this  Jubilee  meeting.  A  very  inter- 
esting meeting  of  these  veterans — W.  J.  Rhees,  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Hon.  J.  L.  Eldredge, 
Topeka,  Kansas;  Rev.  Samuel  T.  Lowrie,  D.D.,  Philadelphia, 
and  Oscar  Cobb,  Buffalo — was  held  in  the  rooms  which  forty 
years  before  were  occupied  by  the  Buffalo  Association,  and  in 
which  the  first  Convention  met. 

In  the  preface  of  its  report  to  this  Jubilee  Convention  the 
Committee  says :  "Until  1874,  the  eighth  year  of  the  committee's 
service,  Robert  Weideusall  and  the  General  Secretary  were 
the  only  employed  officers  of  the  Committee.  During  the  fol- 
lowing ten  years  ('74-'84)  the  number  had  increased  to  eleven; 
in  '94  to  twenty-eight  on  the  home  and  seven  on  the  foreign 
field ;  in  this  year,  1904,  to  fifty-one  on  the  home  and  thirty-four 
on  the  foreign  field.  The  budget  of  expense  in  '74  for  the  pre- 
ceding year  was  |7,500 ;  in  '84,  |30,500 ;  in  '94,  |;63,200  on  the 
home  and  |18,078  on  the  foreign  field;  in  1904,  |1 56,000  on  the 
home  and  |102,000  on  the  foreign  field." 

At  the  request  of  the  Committee  I  prepared  and  read  a 
paper  on  "Fifty  Years  of  Federation  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Associations  of  North  America."^  Soon  afterward  this 
paper,  somewhat  enlarged,  was  published  by  the  Committee, 
making  a  volume  of  111  pages  entitled  "Fifty  Years  of  Federa- 
tion." This  was  used  as  a  textbook  at  Summer  Schools  and 
elsewhere  until  I  prepared,  too  hurriedly,  and  the  Committee 


•For  extracts  from  this  paper  seo  Appendix  II. 


CONTINUED  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  PROGRESS  443 

published  iu  1913  a  fuller  but  still  very  summary  "Association 
History." 

Nature  of  Controversy  and  of  Association  Supervision 

For  the  main  controversial  theme  of  the  Convention  much 
more  taxing  preparation  was  made  by  the  Committee,  its 
Chairman  and  staff,  and  especially  by  its  General  Secretary. 

The  State  and  Provincial  organizations  owed  their  existence 
to  the  action  of  the  International  Convention,  which  called 
together,  through  its  Committee,  representatives  of  the  Asso- 
ciations in  each  State  and  Province.  A  few  such  conven- 
tions first  met  in  ISOG;  and  now  there  were  thirty-five  State 
and  Provincial  Committees,  employing  eighty-four  supervisory 
Secretaries.  The  International  Committee  had  a  force  of  fifty- 
one  Secretaries.  The  cost  of  the  State  Work  had  become 
greater  than  that  of  the  International.  Both  agencies.  Inter- 
national and  State,  had  been  created  as  independent  agencies 
by  the  local  Associations  as  they  in  succession  created  both. 
There  was  therefore  nothing  mandatory  or  authoritative  in 
the  relation  of  each  to  the  other  nor  yet  in  the  relations  of 
each  to  the  local  Association.  All  these  relationships  were 
advisory.  A  common  supervisory  service  was  due  to  the  local 
Association,  by  both  agencies — a  service  of  advice,  followed 
by  cooperation,  both  advice  and  cooperation  growing  out  of 
and  guided  by  a  supervision  or  oversight  by  that  one  of  the  two 
parties  concerned  which  had  an  oversight  of  the  field.  But  it 
was  a  supervision  without  authority.  When  the  advice  and 
cooperation  were  wise  and  effective,  influence  was  gained  and 
accumulated  by  each  agency.  Sometimes  this  influence  had 
the  appearance  of  authority.  But  this  appearance  was  mis- 
leading. The  relation  between  the  two  agencies  had  been  one 
of  Christian  brotherly  comity  and  mutual  consideration.  State 
Secretaries  were  ex  officio  delegates  to  the  International  Con- 
ventions, and  International  Committee  members  and  Secre- 
taries were  invariably  found  on  the  program  of  the  State  Con- 
ventions. Some  members  of  the  International  Committee  were 
also  members  of  the  State  Committees  in  the  states  where  they 
resided. 

The  early  years  of  the  State  Conventions  were  an  era  of  good 
feeling,  but  as  these  organizations  grew  stronger  the  inevitable 


444  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

question  arose:  which  one  of  the  two,  on  a  given  field,  had 
priority  over  the  other,  in  relation  to  the  local  organization? 
And  if  no  such  priority  yet  existed,  was  it  desirable  now  to 
pronounce  and  create  a  priority?  Mistakes  more  or  less  seri- 
ous had  been  made  by  Secretaries  of  both  organizations  and 
the  law  of  comity  and  mutual  consideration  had  not  been  in- 
variably observed. 

Grand  Rapids  Resolutions 

In  the  interests  of  peace  and  a  better  understanding  I  made 
an  attempt  in  1899  to  compact  into  four  resolutions  a  state- 
ment of  working  relationships,  as  these  were  understood  by 
the  International  Committee,  to  be  binding  upon  both  agencies 
of  supervision,  and  upon  the  local  Associations.  The  Com- 
mittee thought  well  enough  of  these  resolutions  to  incorporate 
them  in  their  report  to  the  Convention  of  that  year,  at  Grand 
Rapids.  In  the  discussion  of  them  some  amendments  were 
suggested,  but  rejected  by  the  Conv^eution.  A  substitute  was 
then  offered,  which  also  was  rejected.  The  resolutions,  as  re- 
ported by  the  Committee,  were  then  adopted  and  became  known 
as  "The  Grand  Rai^ids  Resolutions."  They  read  as  follows: 
"Resolved, 

1.  That  the  International  and  State  Committees  exist  as 
independent  supervisory  agencies,  directl}^  and  equally  related 
to  the  local  organization,  which  is  the  original  and  independ- 
ent unit  in  the  brotherhood  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciations, and  that  the  relation  of  the  supervisory  agencies  to 
the  local  organizations  is  as  a  rule  advisory. 

2.  That  in  the  relations  of  comity,  which  have  been  well 
established  by  usage  hitherto,  it  is  understood  that  the  Inter- 
national Committee  as  a  rule  exercises  general,  and  the  State 
Committee  exercises  close  supervision,  it  being  also  under- 
stood that  by  the  terms,  general  and  close,  nothing  is  intended 
inconsistent  with  the  direct  and  equal  relation  of  each  local 
organization  to  both  the  International  and  State  organizations. 

3.  That  it  is  desirable  that  the  International  Committee,  in 
each  department  of  its  work,  plan  to  meet  the  needs  of  fields 
where  State  and  Provincial  organizations  exist,  in  conference 
with  such  organizations,  in  such  a  way  as  to  supplement,  not 
duplicate,  the  corresponding  department  of  state  or  provincial 
work,  and  to  secure  by  such  adjustment  of  forces  economy  of 
eff'ort,  time,  and  money. 

4.  That  the  International   Committee,  in  forming  and  de- 


CONTINUED  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  PROGRESS  445 

veloping  State  and  Provincial  organizations,  place  emphasis 
upon  the  responsibility  vested  in  these  organizations  and  that 
cooperation  with  them  be  carefully  cultivated." 

The  Committee  of  Twenty-One  and  the  Two  Differing  Views 

The  discussion  at  the  Convention  plainly  indicated  that 
something  supplemental  to  the  Grand  Rapids  Kesolutions  was 
called  for  and  a  committee  of  seven  was  appointed  to  con- 
sider, and  if  possible  to  devise,  and  report  to  the  next  Conven- 
tion, ''a  plan  by  which  the  relation  of  the  International,  State, 
and  Provincial  Committees  and  local  Associations,  and  the 
functions  of  each  supervisory  agency  may  be  more  clearly 
defined." 

Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  of  Chicago,  was  appointed  Chairman 
of  this  committee,  but  at  the  next  Convention  of  11)01  could 
only  report  progress.  The  Convention  of  1901  therefore  reaf- 
firmed the  Grand  Rapids  Resolutions  and  increased  the  mem- 
bership of  the  committee  from  seven  to  twenty-one,  asking  the 
Chairman  to  appoint  the  additional  members  needed  to  make 
a  full  representative  committee. 

Mr.  McCormick  proceeded  to  a  very  careful  selection,  seek- 
ing to  form  a  membership  of  which  the  twenty,  beside  the 
Chairman,  should  be  equally  divided  between  those  who  held 
the  two  views  entertained  regarding  relationships  of  the  two 
agencies.  In  this  selection  and  in  all  the  proceedings  as  chair- 
man he  showed  a  rare  impartiality.  During  the  discussions 
of  the  Committee  no  certain  knowledge  of  his  own  opinion  was 
obtained,  and  not  until  the  final  majority  and  minority  rejiorts 
of  the  Committee  were  framed,  ready  for  signature  before  sub- 
mission to  the  Convention,  was  it  known  which  of  the  two  he 
would  sign. 

This  Committee,  so  carefully  appointed,  was  composed 
wholly  of  laymen,  but  all  had  had  experience  in  the  manage- 
ment of  local  Association  work.  Eight  of  them  were,  or  had 
been,  Presidents  of  the  Associations  of  New  York,  Chicago, 
Milwaukee,  "Montreal,  Cleveland,  Oakland,  Cal.,  Ottumwa, 
Iowa,  and  Gemiautown,  Pa. 

Eight  were,  or  had  been,  Association  Directors  in  New  York 
City,  Chicago,  Pittsburgh,  St.  Louis,  Louisville,  Nashville, 
Bloomington,  Ind.,  and  New  Haven,  Conn.     Of  these  Cephas 


446  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Brainerd  had  been  for  forty-seven  years  a  Director  in  New 
York,  and  for  twenty-five  years  Chairman  of  the  International 
Committee. 

As  representing  the  State  and  Provincial  Committees,  four 
were  or  had  been  Chairmen  of  the  Committees  of  Ohio,  Tennes- 
see, Minnesota,  and  California ;  ten  were  officers  or  leading 
members  of  the  Committees  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Con- 
necticut, Missouri,  Iowa,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Texas, 
Wisconsin,  Ontario,  and  Quebec. 

Four  were  members  of  the  International  Committee,  includ- 
ing its  Chairman  and  an  ex-Chairman. 

The  two  differing  views  held  at  the  outset  by  the  twenty-one 
members  of  the  Committee  might  be  thus  stated :  On  one  side 
it  was  contended  that  the  State  and  Provincial  Committees 
were  supreme,  or  had  jjriority  in  the  area  of  their  several 
States  and  Provinces,  and  that  all  the  work  of  the  Interna- 
tional Committee  must  be  done  by  that  Committee  acting 
obediently  and  invariably  through  State  and  Provincial  Com- 
mittees. 

On  the  other  side  it  was  contended  that  while  the  Interna- 
tional Committee  was  bound  to  consult  with  each  State  or 
Provincial  Committee  in  reference  to  work  in  the  territory  of 
that  Committee,  it  also  had  as  direct  a  relation  to  the  local 
Association  as  the  State  Committee;  that  the  local  Association, 
in  the  interests  of  its  own  best  welfare,  had  right  of  direct 
access  to  the  International  Committee,  and  equally  that  the 
International  Committee  had  the  same  right  of  access  to  the 
local  Association;  and  that  the  State  and  Provincial  Com- 
mittees had  no  priority  before  or  over  the  International  Com- 
mittee in  its  equally  direct  relation  to  the  local  Association. 

The  Committee  of  Twenty-One  met  promptly  in  the  autumn 
of  1901.  In  this  and  subsequent  meetings  and  in  wide  cor- 
respondence, accurate  knowledge  was  gained  of  the  instances 
of  friction  between  the  International  and  State  Secretaries, 
out  of  which  had  grown  the  demand  for  a  better  definition  of 
relationships.  There  was  the  fullest  and  frankest  discussion 
of  these  Association  problems. 

My  own  correspondence  in  this  period,  growing  out  of  this 
Committee's  deliberations,  was  very  voluminous.  With  other 
Secretaries,  local,  State,  and  International,  I  was  asked  to 


CONTINUED  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  PROGRESS  447 

attend  more  than  one  of  the  committee's  meetings,  answering 
and  asking  questions.  A  strong  endeavor  was  wisely  made  to 
reach  a  unanimous  conclusion.  To  promote  this,  early  in  its 
proceedings  "a  preliminary  announcement"  was  unanimously 
adopted  and  issued  by  the  committee.  Its  circulation  excited 
the  hope  that  similar  agreement  could  be  reached  in  the  final 
conclusion. 

But  after  two  years  of  deliberation,  to  the  regret  of  all,  the 
committee  could  not  avoid  the  conclusion  that  "the  endeavor 
to  unite  the  entire  committee  in  its  report  was  an  attempt 
to  put  two  sets  of  opinions  in  one  set  of  resolutions."  Ac- 
cordingly the  conclusions  of  the  committee  as  published  by 
them  in  Association  Men  for  April,  1904,  previous  to  the  pres- 
entation of  them  to  the  Buffalo  Jubilee  Convention,  May  11- 
15,  consisted  of  a  majority  report,  signed  by  thirteen,  and  a 
minority  report  signed  by  eight  members. 

In  examining  the  two  groups  of  signers,  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  in  the  group  of  thirteen  who  adopted  the  majority 
report  were: 

1.  Seven  of  the  eight  local  Association  Presidents  and  ex- 
Presidents,  who  came  from  New  York,  Chicago,  Montreal, 
Cleveland,  Oakland,  Ottumwa,  and  Germantown. 

2.  Five  of  the  eight  Directors  and  ex-Directors  from  New 
York,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  and  New  Haven. 

3.  Three  of  the  four  Chairmen  or  ex-Chairmen  of  State  Com- 
mittees, coming  from  Minnesota,  Ohio,  and  California. 

4.  Four  of  the  ten  other  officers  and  members  of  the  State 
Committees  from  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Connecticut,  Mis- 
souri, Iowa,  Ontario,  and  Quebec. 

5.  All  of  the  four  members  of  the  International  Committee. 
In  the  group  of  eight  members  who  signed  the  minority 

report  were : 

1.  One  of  the  eight  Association  Presidents  or  ex-Presidents, 
who  w^as  from  Milwaukee. 

2.  Five  of  the  eight  Association  Directors  or  ex-Directors 
coming  from  Chicago,  Pittsburgh,  Louisville,  Nashville,  and 
Waco. 

3.  Two  of  the  four  Chairmen  or  ex-Chairmen  of  State  Com- 
mittees from  Ohio  and  Tennessee. 

4.  Six  of  the  ten  other  officers  and  members  of  State  Com- 


448  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

mittees  coming  from  Illinois,  Indiana,  Tennessee,  Wisconsin, 
and  Texas. 

Apparently  in  this  classification  a  total  of  thirty-seven  in- 
stead of  twenty-one  members  is  given  to  this  committee.  This 
misleading  appearance  is  due  to  the  fact  that  most  of  the 
twenty-one  members  belong  in  more  than  one  class.  Chairmen 
McCormick  and  Brainerd  are  both  members  of  the  Interna- 
tional Committee  and  also  Directors.  All  were  laymen  volun- 
teers of  both  Church  and  Association,  helping  forward  an 
organization  created  by  Christian  business  and  professional 
men  of  their  class  and  rank.  For  half  a  century  they  had 
strengthened,  cherished,  and  developed  it  into  a  brotherhood, 
the  beneficent  influence  of  which,  upon  j^oung  men,  was  felt 
and  increasingly  respected  the  world  over.  In  their  wise  and 
brotherly  endeavor  they  were  bearing  trustwortliy  witness  to 
the  fact  that  the  Associations  were  a  contribution  by  the  laity 
to  the  work  of  the  churches. 

In  frequent  intercourse  with  the  committee  during  this 
period  I  was  impressed  with  the  spirit  and  capacity  of  its 
members.  They  had  willingly  come  together — almost  all  of 
them  at  their  own  expense — to  render  a  very  important  service, 
in  a  critical  emergency,  for  a  brotherhood,  to  the  work  of 
which  they  had  already  given  years  of  strong  generous  leader- 
ship. It  was,  in  many  respects,  a  trying  service,  prolonged 
through  several  years,  patiently  and  generously  performed  by 
men  of  fine  repute. 

The  discussions  and  deliberations  of  the  Committee  of 
Twenty-One  had  been  prolonged  through  three  years.  They 
had  been  conducted  with  judicial  care  and  impartiality  by  the 
Chairman.  The  differences  of  opinion  prevailing  had  not  been 
fully  harmonized. 

Discussion  at  the  Convention  and  Satisfactory  Result 

The  lawyer  in  the  majority  group,  who  was  asked  to  lead 
the  discussion  on  the  floor  of  the  Convention,  was  Selden  P. 
Spencer,  of  St.  Louis.  The  minority  leader  was  the  late  Edwin 
Burritt  Smith,  of  Chicago.  By  a  wise  forethought  and  agree- 
ment, suggested  by  these  two  leaders,  an  equal  amount  of  time 
was  allotted  to  the  leaders  and  speakers  on  each  report.  It 
was  a  debate  of  many  hours,  prolonged  through  the  sessions 


CONTINUED  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  PROGRESS  449 

of  two  days.  During  the  final  period  of  a  third  session  the 
majority  report  was  amended  by  speakers  seeking  to  bring  the 
delegates  to  an  agreement.  The  whole  tone  and  temper  of  the 
discussion  was  highly  creditable  to  the  Christian  spirit  and 
character  of  these  representatives  of  the  Associations. 

Many  exciting  incidents  and  contrasts  were  in  evidence  dur- 
ing these  days  of  debate.  The  judicial  Chairman  of  the  c(»m- 
niittee  made  a  strong  address,  and  an  appeal  for  the  majority 
report.  He  was  followed  in  a  vigorous  address  for  the  minority 
report,  by  his  intimate  friend  from  Chicago,  General  Secre- 
tary Messer.  The  Chairman  of  the  International  Committee 
also  made  a  telling  address.  Most  of  the  speakers  were  Asso- 
ciation laymen,  but  the  Chicago  City  {Secretary,  and  the  Il- 
linois State  Secretary  were  among  those  who  spoke  for  the 
minority  report,  and  Secretary  John  R.  Mott  made  the  strong 
closing  appeal  for  that  of  the  majority.  The  motion  they  de- 
bated was  that  "The  minority  report  be  substituted  for  that 
of  the  majority."  The  vote  upon  it  revealed  the  mind  of  the 
Convention  as  strongly  favorable  to  the  majority  report.  Then 
followed  a  session  devoted  to  the  conciliating  work  of  so  amend- 
ing the  majority  report,  as  to  safeguard  more  fully  the  local 
Association,  and  to  strengthen  in  other  respects  its  provisions. 
In  this  two  leading  General  Secretaries — Edwin  F.  See,  of 
Brooklyn,  and  Walter  C.  Douglas,  of  Philadelphia — took  a 
prominent  part.  In  his  fine  appeal  Edwin  See  asked  for  a 
modification,  a  vote,  and  a  decision  that  would  keep  the  peace 
and  would  save  the  brotherhood  from  a  discord  or  disunion 
which,  during  the  fifty  years  we  were  now  commemorating, 
had  sometimes  threatened,  but  never  yet  had  broken  our  fel- 
lowship and  unity.  His  appeal  in  the  name  of  this  half  cen- 
tury of  unbroken  peace  and  harmony  had  the  note  of  victory  in 
it.  I  felt  as  if  these  two  leading  Secretaries  in  their  eloquent 
pleas  were  taking  the  part  and  filling  the  office  Robert  Mc- 
Bumev  would  have  performed  had  his  life  been  spared  to 
attend  these  sessions. 

In  this  hour  of  its  greatest  need  of  a  presiding  officer  of 
exceptional  ability,  such  a  President  was  granted  to  the  Con- 
vention in  the  person  of  Commissioner  Henry  B.  F.  Macfarland, 
of  Washington,  D.  C.  For  this  trying  position  he  showed 
qualification  amounting  to  genius,  and  the  feeling  of  gratitude 


450  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

to  him  among  all  the  delegates  sought  and  found  expression 
in  the  gift  of  a  loving-cup  which  a  leader  of  the  minority  im- 
pressively presented. 

Nothing  was  more  creditable  to  debaters,  delegates,  and 
officers  of  the  Convention  than  the  close  of  this  long  historic 
discussion,  before  the  largest  International  Convention  yet 
assembled.  When  the  vote  had  been  taken  and  carefully 
counted  by  tellers,  before  announcing  the  result,  the  President 
requested  that  no  applause  should  follow  the  announcement. 
He  then  stated  that  the  majority  vote  was  872  and  that  of  the 
minority  290.^  In  the  intensely  impressive  silence  that  fol- 
lowed President  Macfarland  offered  prayer,  and  the  presence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  the  Bringer  of  peace  and  concord,  was 
felt  as  deeply  by  these  Christian  delegates,  as  that  divine 
presence  is  realized  in  the  most  solemn  and  persuasive  gospel 
evangelism. 

On  the  following  day,  Sunday  afternoon,  in  one  of  the  largest 
assembly  halls  in  Buffalo,  crowded  with  young  men,  the  com- 
munity was  stirred  by  a  deeply  impressive  evangelistic  meet- 
ing led  by  Fred  B.  Smith.  I  saw  many  men  moved  and  per- 
suaded to  begin  the  Christian  life,  and  received  a  new  impres- 
sion of  the  continued  presence  with  us  of  the  spirit  of  genuine 
Christian  discipleship,  honorable  to  the  Association  brother- 
hood. 

After  the  discussion  the  important  report  of  the  Committee 
on  the  International  Committee's  Keport  was  submitted, 
strongly  recommending  further  extension  of  the  Committee's 
work  at  home  and  abroad,  with  an  increased  staff  and  budget. 

Of  the  leaders  of  the  minority.  Secretary  L.  Wilbur  Messer 
— mover  of  this  motion  in  the  three  preceding  Conventions — 
now  promptly  for  this  fourth  Convention  moved  the  adoption 
of  the  report,  a  motion  which  was  heartily  carried.  In  the 
succeeding  Conventions  of  1907,  1913,  and  1916  Mr.  Messer 
has  himself  served  on  the  Convention's  committee  upon  this 
report,  invariably  submitting  favorable  action  upon  it. 

The  majority  report,  as  amended  and  adopted  by  the  Conven- 
tion, reaffirmed  the  Grand  Rapids  Resolutions  as  "expressing 
the  historic  basis  of  relationship  upon  which  the  Associations 


2  By  this  vote  the  delegates  refused  to  substitute  the  minority  for  the  majority  report. 
The  majority  report  was  then  amended  and  adopted  by  a  vote  of  821  to  131. 


CONTINUED  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  PROGRESS  451 

have  developed,"  and  declared  that  "radical,  organic  changes  in 
the  polity  of  the  Association  are  neither  necessary  nor  desir- 
able." 

The  initiative  and  independence  of  the  local  Association  are 
carefully  safeguarded,  and  close  supervision  by  the  State,  and 
general  supervision  by  the  International  Committee  are,  as 
a  rule,  equally  affirmed.  The  special  responsibilities  of  the  In- 
ternational Committee  in  interstate  Railroad  Work,  and  "in 
exceptional  cases"  in  provisional  Railroad,  Industrial,  Army 
and  Navy  Work  are  cared  for.  The  reciprocal  obligations  of 
the  International  and  State  organizations  to  one  another  are 
strongly  reaffirmed  in  line  with  the  best  experience  of  each. 

The  careful  study  of  both  reports  gave  me  the  impression 
that  the  majority  conserved,  more  c'arefully  than  the  minority, 
that  desirable  elasticity  in  relationships  of  the  agencies  of 
supervision,  which  has  always  characterized  them. 

This  report  as  amended  was,  in  fact,  a  wise  expansion  of 
what  was  attempted,  too  summarily,  in  the  Grand  Rapids 
Resolutions.  It  defined  more  successfully,  because  more  fully, 
what  a  usage  of  brotherly  consultation  and  cooperation — 
marred  too  often  by  what  was  not  brotherly — had  found  prac- 
ticable in  the  intercourse,  not  always  as  well  conducted  as  it 
ought  to  have  been,  of  Association  organizations,  local,  State, 
Provincial,  and  International. 

This  convention  action  was  accepted  by  the  Associations 
without  further  public  controversy.  The  result,  however,  deep- 
ened the  sense  of  obligation  to  live  up  to  the  instructions  of 
the  Convention,  emphasizing  helpful  cooperation  between  the 
two  supervisory  agencies. 

For  this  purpose  a  series  of  meetings  was  arranged  by  the 
International  Committee.  Within  a  year  thirty-four  confer- 
ences were  held  with  as  many  State  and  Provincial  Committees. 
Chairman  Warner  attended  twenty-seven;  I  took  part  in 
twenty-five;  and  Mr.  Hicks  in  twenty-two,  Vice-Chairmen 
Marling  and  Murray  attended  five.  The  International  Com- 
mittee member  in  each  section  attended  the  meetings  in  his 
neighborhood;  some  of  these  men  were  members  of  both  the 
International  and  State  Committees.  The  meetings  were  of 
great  value  in  promoting  personal  intercourse  and  acquaint- 
ance between  the  two  supervisory  agencies,  as  well  as  a  better 


452  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

understanding  of  the  spirit  of  the  work  and  the  purpose  and 
methods  of  each. 

Dr.  Warner  had  been  a  faithful  and  influential  member  of 
the  Committee  of  Twenty-One,  and  had  made  an  effective  ad- 
dress in  favor  of  its  report  at  the  Convention.  Now  he  led 
the  Committee  and  its  staff  in  carrying  out  the  instructions 
of  the  Convention,  doing  efficiently  his  part  in  promoting 
throughout  the  continent  the  State  Work  in  which  for  many 
years  in  his  own  State  he  had  been  a  strong  leader. 

During  the  period  of  agitation  and  discussion  the  contro- 
versy had  seemed  only  harmful,  but  whatever  injury  was  ap- 
parent proved  temporary.  Attention  had  been  called  to  the 
importance  of  the  State  Work,  and  of  its  development.  There 
was  need  of  this,  owing  to  the  emphasis  by  the  Committee  for 
many  years  on  departmental  development.  This  emphasis  had 
been  of  decided  benefit  to  Association  work,  but  more  would 
have  been  wisely  accomplished  by  the  Committee  if  it  also 
could  have  put  a  greater  emphasis  on  fostering  State  and 
Provincial  Work.  Such  work  the  Committee  earnestly  desired 
to  accomplish,  but  with  the  resources  at  its  command,  the  path 
followed  had  seemed  the  only  one  open  to  it. 

Perhaps  none  felt  the  limitation  in  these  resources  quite  as 
strongly  as  did  the  General  Secretary,  who  had  been  responsi- 
ble for  so  much  of  the  financial  support.  It  was  sadly  true 
in  my  experience  that  some  parts  of  the  work,  for  which  I  most 
desired  development,  were  those  for  which  I  could  at  times 
secure  least  sympathy  in  the  form  of  financial  contributions. 
In  his  report  to  the  Convention  (1907)  following  the  Buffalo 
Jubilee,  Dr.  Warner  was  -able  to  say :  "At  no  period  in  many 
years  have  the  relations  between  the  International,  State,  and 
Provincial  agencies  of  supervision  been,  on  the  whole,  more 
cordial  and  harmonious  than  at  the  present  time." 

The  Merits  of  the  Controversy 

In  the  retrospect  of  this  entiref  controversy,  to  some  critics 
it  has  seemed  as  if  whatever  of  undesirable  friction  had  ap- 
peared was  richly  deserved  as  punishment  due  for  the  creation 
of  two  agencies  of  supervision,  so  separated  from,  and  inde- 
l>tiident  of  one  another,  as  are  the  International  and  State 
organizations,  with  their  Conventions  and  Committees.     This 


CONTINUED  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  PROGRESS  453 

criticism  has  passed  from  the  arena  of  discussion  to  that  of 
action  and  experiment  b}'  a  kindred  organization.  Since  the 
controversial  Convention  of  1904  at  Buffalo,  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association — the  leaders  of  which  were 
present  at  Buffalo  as  vigilant  observers  and  listeners — after 
having  accomplished  in  1906  a  union  of  their  two  separated 
national  organizations,  have  developed  one  agency  of  super- 
vision, with  district  or  regional,  subordinate  divisions.  Thus 
by  one  agencj'  they  seek  to  accomplish  general  and  close  super- 
vision, as  this  is  attempted  in  our  brotherhood  by  two  inde- 
pendent agencies. 

Yet  more  recently  on  the  basis  of  this  experiment  and  ex- 
perience, our  own  Associations  in  Canada  have  formed  a  single 
national  organization,  into  which  have  been  merged  the  Pro- 
vincial Conventions  and  their  Committees.  From  1866  to  1912 
these  existed  in  Canada  as  independent  agencies  of  supervision, 
related  or  non-related,  as  are  our  State  organizations,  to  the 
International  Convention  and  its  Committee. 

The  merits  of  these  differing  methods  of  supervisory  organi- 
zation continue  a  subject  of  experiment  and  discussion.  In  a 
pamphlet  I  wrote  upon  "The  Polity  of  the  Y^oung  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association,"  during  the  controversy  terminated  by  the 
Convention  of  1904,  is  the  following  sentence :  "Association 
polity  is  a  growth,  and  is  not  yet  full  grown."  This  process 
of  development  continues,  and  while  Association  leaders  and 
workers  keep  diligently  upon  the  lines  of  their  organization, 
as  developed  hitherto,  the  open  mind  must  also  be  fostered — 
a  mind  ready  to  adopt  the  results  of  careful  deliberation,  wise 
experiment,  and  accumulating  experience.  A  progressive  op- 
portunism has  characterized  the  Association  from  its  begin- 
ning as  an  agency  of  experimentation  and  suggestion.  By  this 
method  it  has  accomplished,  and  will  continue  to  accomplish, 
some  of  its  best  achievements. 

As  one  result  of  his  experience  in  many  conferences  with 
State  Committees,  Dr.  Warner  prepared  a  pamphlet  of  thirty 
pages  upon :  ''The  Origin,  Field,  and  Work  of  the  Interna- 
tional Committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
of  North  America" — copyrighted  in  1905.  By  its  publication 
I  was  reminded  of  the  little  leaflet,  with  a  similar  title,  which 
was  prepared  thirty  years  before,  after  our  first  parlor  con- 


454 


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CONTINUED  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  PROGRESS  455 

ference  in  187-4,  as  one  of  the  first  helps  in  seeking  and  finding 
for  the  Committee  the  constituency  of  supporters,  without 
whom  its  work  could  not  have  been  continued  and  developed. 
Dr.  Warner's  pamphlet  sets  forth  tersely  the  stage  of  develop- 
ment at  which  the  Committee  and  its  work  had  now  arrived. 

The  form  of  organization  outlined  in  the  accompanying  dia- 
gram had  been  framed  and  adopted  at  the  suggestion  of  Secre- 
tary C.  J.  Hicks,  and  was  based  on  a  chart  of  the  organization 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  by  which  he  had  been  favorably 
impressed  when  he  had  seen  it  in  the  Directors'  Room  of  that 
system.  The  scheme  of  distribution  lent  itself  admirably  to 
a  similar  distribution  of  the  two  main  divisions  of  the  Com- 
mittee's work,  and  was  carefully  thought  out  by  the  Executive 
Committee  and  its  Secretaries. 

The  International  Committee's  Building,  1906-1907 
Building  Site  and  Fund 

Of  the  successive  oflBces  of  the  International  Committee  until 
and  including  that  of  1898,  mention  has  already  been  made.^ 

In  1898,  with  a  staff  of  thirty-two  Secretaries  on  the  home 
and  fourteen  on  the  foreign  field,  part  of  a  floor  in  an  office 
building,  75  x  100  feet,  was  rented  at  3  West  29th  Street.  Then 
the  whole  floor,  and  later  portions  of  two  others,  were  gradu- 
ally secured. 

During  an  occupation  of  nine  years  the  lease  was  renewed 
thrice,  each  time  by  the  payment  of  an  advance  in  rent.  The 
third  lease  was  to  expire  May  1,  1908.  Removal  to  a  building 
secured  and  owned  by  the  Committee  seemed  so  urgent  that 
in  September,  1906,  in  consultation  with  Secretaries  Mott  and 
Hicks,  it  was  agreed  between  us  that  an  immediate  effort  to- 
ward securing  the  desired  building  was  so  necessary  that  my 
going  to  Japan  within  the  next  few  months  to  attend  the 
meeting  of  the  World's  Student  Christian  Federation  must 
depend  upon  our  success  in  securing  such  a  building. 

The  Site  Discussed  and  Secured 

From  the  beginning,  for  twenty-six  years,  the  Committee's 
offices  had  been  located  in  or  near  the  old  Twenty-third  Street 
building.    But  the  Committee  members  after  many  experiments 

•Pp.  253-4,  314-5. 


456  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

finally  had  found  it  convenient  to  hold  its  meetings  downtown 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  City  Hall  and  Wall  Street.  After 
consulting  with  our  fellow  Secretaries,  we  agreed  to  begin 
our  search  for  a  building  site  in  that  part  of  the  city.  With 
Vice-Chairmau  Marling  as  expert  counsel  and  guide,  what 
seemed  a  desirable  corner  property  was  found,  and  the  price, 
$90,000,  did  not  seem  prohibitive.  The  deep  and  practical 
interest  taken  in  our  efifort  by  another  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee, Cleveland  H.  Dodge,  reminded  me  of  the  generous  offer 
of  a  building  made  some  years  before  by  his  honored  father, 
the  late  William  E.  Dodge.  This  friend  of  the  project,  however, 
expressed  a  decided  preference  for  a  site  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  two  great  railroad  terminals  then  in  course  of  erection 
for  the  New  York  Central  and  Pennsylvania  systems.  In  this 
neighborhood  had  been  the  location  of  the  Committee's  oflfice 
from  the  beginning.  Again  the  Vice-Chairman  was  our  expert 
guide  and  reported  the  four  adjoining  lots  on  East  27th  and 
28th  Streets,  upon  which  the  Committee's  building  now  stands. 
The  cost  would  be  |136,000.  This  selection  proved  acceptable 
to  both  the  Committee  and  its  staff.  In  eighteen  months  our 
lease  would  expire.  Prompt  action  upon  this  choice  was 
urgent.  Upon  further  inquiry  it  appeared  that  by  the  pay- 
ment of  |40,000  the  four  lots  could  be  secured,  with  the  burden 
of  a  mortgage  of  $96,000. 

Before  a  proposal  to  purchase  was  submitted  to  the  Com- 
mittee I  asked  Mr.  Dodge  whether  he  would  contribute  this 
amount  ($40,000)  toward  such  a  purchase.  He  was  willing 
to  take  the  matter  into  consideration,  but  alluded  also — as  in 
more  than  one  previous  interview  he  had  done — to  his  growing 
interest  in  the  work  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, with  which  his  sister,  Miss  Grace  Dodge,  was  most  in- 
fluentially  identified. 

Of  the  remarkable  work  Miss  Dodge  was  accomplishing,  with 
consummate  wisdom,  in  uniting  the  two  independent  groups 
of  these  Associations  I  was  fully  aware,  having  been  in  more 
than  one  consultation  with  her  on  the  subject,  and  I  knew  that 
within  a  few  weeks  of  this  time  her  efforts  were  to  be  crowned 
with  success,  and  the  National  Board  of  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations  would  be  created,  as  the  agent  of  the 
united  organizations. 


CONTINUED  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  PROGRESS  457 

In  connection  with  this  coming  event  Mr.  Dodge  raised  the 
serious  question  whether  the  proposed  building  might  be  a 
joint  undertaking  and  become  the  property  of  the  two  super- 
visory agencies.  This  led  to  a  deliberation  with  himself  and 
his  sister  in  which  we  were  confronted  with  the  fact  that  both 
these  agencies  of  young  men  and  young  women,  in  a  protracted 
and  trying  experience  of  many  years,  had  found  that  every  at- 
tempt by  any  one  of  their  Associations  to  unite  with  any 
kindred  organization  in  the  holding  of  permanent  property 
had  proved  so  unsatisfactory  that  it  was  an  accepted  policy 
with  the  Supervisory  Committees  of  both  the  Young  Men's 
and  the  Young  Women's  Associations,  at  every  opportunity 
to  counsel  the  local  Associations  strongly  against  such  joint 
ownership.  We  knew  of  sad  experiences  in  this  line  within 
our  own  brotherhood,  and  Miss  Dodge  assured  me  that  in  their 
organization  the  same  experience  had  created  similar  disap- 
proval of  any  such  joint  ownership. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  prospect  of  a  building  of  such 
dimensions  as  we  were  considering,  I  expressed  the  belief  that 
there  could  be  offered  in  it  for  a  term  of  years,  such  accommo- 
dation for  the  National  Board  of  the  united  young  women's 
organization  about  to  be  formed,  as  would  be  acceptable  to 
them  and  to  us. 

It  was  in  this  consultation,  that  I  also  expressed  to  Miss 
Dodge  the  hope  and  expectation  that  their  national  organiza- 
tion in  the  development  of  its  work,  would  eventually  need 
and  command  a  building  of  its  own,  larger  than  ours,  in  order 
that  it  might  accommodate  also  their  Secretarial  Training 
School,  which  in  their  organization  already  was  wisely  and 
closely  allied  to  their  National  Board,  as  I  had  hoped  and 
planned  many  years  before,  that  our  first  secretarial  school 
might  be  related  to  our  Committee.  In  point  of  fact,  far 
sooner  than  I  could  then  anticipate,  this  larger  double  build- 
ing was  secured  within  five  years,  under  her  admirable  and 
generous  administration. 

In  sympathy  with  these  conclusions  and  in  response  to  the 
request  I  made,  Mr.  Dodge — in  an  interview  of  which  I  cherish 
the  most  vivid  recollection — replied  that  his  mother,  Mrs. 
William  E.  Dodge,  desired  to  purchase  and  donate  to  the  Com- 
mittee the  site  proposed  for  its  building,  and  his  sister  had 


458  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

added  $15,000  toward  its  equipment.  That  day  was  one  of 
the  happiest  in  my  life.  From  what  source  could  such  a  gift 
have  brought  to  me  so  much  satisfaction  and  have  excited  so 
much  pleasure  and  gratitude! 

The  plan  of  the  building,  and  the  money  with  which  to  erect 
one  of  adequate  dimensions,  now  commanded  attention.  At 
first  one  of  four  or  five  stories  seemed  sufficient.  The  fact 
that  it  could  face  on  two  streets  would  allow  of  an  entrance 
on  one  for  the  International  Committee,  and  on  the  other  for 
that  portion  which  was  to  be  leased  to  the  National  Board  of 
the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association.  A  first  sketch  of 
this  plan  was  drawn  in  the  office,  in  order  to  aid  in  present- 
ing to  friends,  who  might  help  us,  the  size  and  uses  of  the 
building. 

At  this  time  occurred  the  death  of  our  friend,  and  the  friend 
of  some  of  our  best  friends,  Kussell  Sage.  He  had  been  par- 
ticularly interested  in  our  work  for  railroad  men  and  in  the 
leading  part  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  had  taken  in  it.  Often 
in  the  Vanderbilt  Railroad  Association  building  he  had  at- 
tended the  anniversary  meeting,  at  which  each  year  Vanderbilt 
presided.  He  had  also  expressed  to  me  his  good  opinion  of  the 
work  in  such  terms  as  reminded  me  of  the  terse  expression 
used  by  another  of  its  friends — William  Thaw,  of  Pittsburgh, 
"It  is  a  work  wholly  good  for  the  men  and  for  the  roads  they 
serve."  Mrs.  Sage  was  equally  interested,  and  as  an  officer 
of  the  Woman's  Auxiliary  had  been  one  of  the  donors  to  the 
Committee's  Jubilee  fund. 

If  now  she  were  aware  of  the  emergency  at  which  we  had 
arrived,  and  of  the  generous  and  timely  cooperation  of  Mrs. 
Dodge,  I  believed  she  would  help  toward  the  erection  of  the 
building.  When  I  called  at  her  home,  with  one  of  my  associ- 
ates, to  present  the  subject,  the  condition  of  her  health  for- 
bade an  interview,  but  she  expressed  a  desire  to  learn  of  our 
errand  in  a  written  communication. 

Accordingly  I  wrote  out  my  request,  reporting  what  Mrs. 
Dodge  and  her  daughter  had  offered,  and  that  it  was  our  plan 
to  erect  a  building  at  a  cost  of  $250,000  and  to  give  separate 
accommodation  on  the  Twenty-seventh  Street  side  of  the  build- 
ing to  the  National  Board  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations. 


CONTINUED  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  PROGRESS  459 

Mrs.  Sage's  first  reply  came  through  her  attorney,  my  friend 
Mr,  Kobert  W.  DeForest,  who  reported  to  Hicks  aud  myself 
her  favorable  opinion  of  the  project  and  especially  of  a  pro- 
vision in  the  building  for  the  National  Board.  We  went  care- 
fully over  the  plans  aud  in  a  second  interview  W'ith  both  Mr. 
DeForest  and  Mr.  Dodge  the  whole  undertaking  was  again 
thoroughly  considered. 

A  few  days  afterward  (October  19,  1906),  in  her  formal 
and  favorable  reply,  Mrs.  Sage  very  generously  offered  to  erect 
the  building,  with  the  understanding  that  the  title  to  the 
property  would  be  vested  in  the  International  Committee.  Her 
letter  went  on  to  say,  "the  new  National  Board  of  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association  is  to  have  accommodation  in 
the  new  building  to  the  extent  indicated  on  the  plans  shown 
to  Mr.  DeForest,  or  other  accommodation  satisfactory  to  Miss 
Grace  H.  Dodge  or  Mr.  Cleveland  H.  Dodge  and  the  National 
Board  shall  have  the  privilege  of  occupying  that  portion  of 
the  building  so  long  as  they  may  desire  to  do  so  without  any 
rent  other  than  their  proportionate  part  of  the  cost  of  main- 
tenance." 

To  guard  against  any  possible  misunderstanding.  Hicks  and 
I  now  raised  with  Mr.  DeForest  the  question  whether  I  should 
communicate  to  Mrs.  Sage  our  negotiations  with  the  National 
Board  through  its  able  chairman,  stating  the  nature  and 
the  limits  of  the  occupation  by  that  Board  to  which  we  were 
agreeing.  He  replied  that  if  Miss  Dodge  and  her  Board  were 
satisfied,  he  would  counsel  us  not  to  bring  Mrs.  Sage  into  the 
negotiation.  The  state  of  her  health  and  other  considerations 
made  him  sure  that  entering  into  such  details  would  be  con- 
trary to  her  preference. 

This  led  to  further  consultation  with  the  National  Board 
through  its  chairman.  Should  the  occupancy  by  the  Board 
be  limited  or  permanent?  Miss  Dodge  became  satisfied  that 
a  permanent  lien  on  the  property  would  be  a  hindrance  rather 
than  a  help,  when  the  time  was  ripe  for  the  Board  to  procure 
a  building  of  their  own  for  both  the  Board  and  the  Training 
School.  In  my  interview  with  her  such  a  building  in  the 
future  was  deemed  eventually  indispensable. 

A  few  weeks  afterward  the  union  of  the  two  sisterhoods  of 
the  young  women's  associations  was  consummated,  in  Decem- 


460  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

ber,  1906.  After  the  first  meeting  of  the  Board  in  the  first 
week  of  that  month  I  received  from  Miss  Dodge  official  word 
that  she  was  authorized  to  arrange  with  the  International 
Committee  that  the  Board  should  occupy  the  space  reserved 
for  them  on  the  second  and  third  floors  of  the  new  building, 
free  of  rent  for  five  years  from  May  1,  1908,  on  payment  of 
a  fair  proportion  of  the  cost  of  maintenance.  Liberty  to  renew 
the  lease  was  also  guaranteed. 

Erection  and  Dedication  of  the  Building 

Under  the  vigilant  care  of  Mr.  Marling  and  Secretaries  Hicks 
and  Shipp,  the  excellent  features  of  the  Committee's  present 
building  with  its  equipment  were  wrought  out.  In  order  that 
it  should  have  seven  stories  instead  of  five,  Mrs.  Sage  gener- 
ously increased  her  original  gift  to  |350,000  and  this  facilitated 
the  provision  she  desired  to  make  of  satisfactory  offices  for  the 
National  Board  of  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations. 
These  were  furnished  with  a  separate  entrance  on  27th  Street. 
Adequate  quarters  also  for  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement 
were  provided  in  the  building. 

Into  the  occupation  of  new  and  enlarged  office  space  in  1888 
we  had  entered  in  company  with  the  Metropolitan  Board  and 
the  New  York  State  Committee,  and  ten  years  later,  in  1898, 
we  continued  in  company  with  the  State  Committee,  but  now 
our  associates  in  the  new  building  were  the  National  Board 
and  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 

By  these  prompt  and  generous  gifts  of  Mrs.  Dodge  and 
Mrs.  Sage  I  was  released  to  undertake  the  official  errands 
in  Asia  and  Europe  which  led  to  our  second  world  journey, 
account  of  which  is  given  in  another  chapter. 

The  Bowne  Historical  Library,  according  to  the  wish  of  its 
custodian,  founder,  and  donor,  Jacob  T.  Bowne,  was  moved 
from  Springfield  to  fireproof  accommodation  in  the  Committee's 
building. 

The  following  inscription  engraved  on  a  brass  tablet  was 
placed  in  the  reception  room. 

''This  building  is  the  gift  of  Mrs.  Russell  Sage  and  is  erected 
upon  a  site  provided  by  Mrs.  William  E.  Dodge." 

On  May  30,  1908,  the  building  was  dedicated  in  a  service 
led  by  Bishop  William  F.  McDowell,  and  followed  by  a  recep- 


CONTINUED  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  PROGRESS  461 

tion  and  a  dinner  given  to  members  and  Secretaries  of  the 
State  and  Provincial  Committees — agencies  which  perform 
important  part  of  the  supervision  necessary  to  the  efficiency 
of  Association  work.  In  the  absence  of  Dr.  Warner,  Mr.  Mar- 
ling presided,  and  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott  made  the  address.  Later 
another  commemorative  service  was  held,  on  the  reception  by 
the  Committee  from  Howard  Williams  of  the  very  acceptable 
gift  of  a  replica  by  the  artist  of  the  excellent  marble  bust 
of  his  honored  father  Sir  George  Williams.  This  was  unveiled 
with  appropriate  ceremonies,  and  fitting  addresses  were  made 
by  Dr.  Theodore  L,  Cuyler  and  Mr.  James  Stokes.  It  was  the 
last  of  Dr.  Cuyler's  eloquent  and  memorable  addresses  in  the 
promotion  of  this  work  in  Christ's  name  among  young  men. 
Throughout  his  ministry  of  over  half  a  century  he  had  been  in 
both  word  and  deed  an  ardent  friend  of  the  Association. 

At  the  end  of  five  years  (1913),  the  National  Board  and  the 
Secretarial  Training  School  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations,  owing  to  the  remarkable  and  generous  leadership 
of  its  Chairman,  Miss  Dodge,  became  possessed  of  a  much 
larger  building  property  than  ours  and  moved  into  their  pres- 
ent building.  Into  this  they  welcomed  for  a  time  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement.  The  space  vacated  by  that  movement 
was  at  once  occupied  by  our  Committee's  growing  staff,  and 
already  (1917)  this  entire  building  of  seven  stories  is  too  small 
to  accommodate  that  staff,  enlarged  by  the  work  of  the  Na- 
tional War  Work  Council^ of  1917  among  the  millions  of  young 
men  under  arms  on  this  and  other  continents.  A  removal  in 
1918  to  larger  quarters  is  unavoidable. 

International  Conventions  of  1907,  1910,  and  1913 

To  the  Conventions  of  1907,  1910,  and  1913  the  Committee 
was  able  to  report  an  increasingly  helpful  relation  to  State 
organizations.  This  culminated  in  the  appointment  in  1913 
of  Executive  District  Secretaries  at  Chicago,  Denver,  and 
Atlanta,  who  with  their  associates  have  steadily  created  a 
growing  solidarity  of  sentiment  and  cooperation  between  the 
International  and  State  Secretaries,  and  among  their  fellow 
International  Secretaries.  The  way  was  prepared  for  such 
further  progress  in  this  direction  as  was  achieved  at  the  Cleve- 


462  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

land  Convention  of  1916  under  the  new  and  stronger  secretary- 
ship of  Dr.  Mott. 

Whether  the  Associations  were  continuing  faithful  in  their 
observance  of  the  evangelical  church  basis  was  a  question 
raised  at  the  Convention  of  1907.  So  seriously  was  this  pre- 
sented and  discussed  by  some  prominent  Association  leaders 
that  the  delegates  appointed  two  commissions,  one  to  investi- 
gate whether  this  impression  was  well  founded  and  a  second 
to  consider  whether  any  rephrasing  of  the  definition  contained 
in  the  test  or  basis  was  desirable.  Both  commissions  reported 
to  and  were  continued  by  the  Convention  of  1910.  To  the  Con- 
vention of  1913,  the  first  commission  gave  satisfactory  assur- 
ance that  any  existing  non-observance  of  the  basis  was  limited 
to  a  small  minority.  The  second  commission  brought  to  the 
Convention  of  1910  only  a  report  of  progress,  and  to  the  Con- 
vention of  1913  no  rephrasing  of  the  definition  contained  in 
the  basis,  but  a  recommendation  offering  to  any  Association 
or  Associations  desiring  it,  an  alternate  to  the  definition.  The 
delegates  did  not  accept  this  alternate,  and  the  basis  remained 
in  form  and  in  force  unafl'ected  by  the  action  of  the  three  Con- 
ventions. By  the  Convention  of  1907,  however,  to  a  class  of 
confessing  members  of  Student  Associations  was  granted  title 
to  vote,  but  not  to  hold  ofiice. 

In  the  deliberations  of  the  two  commissions  above  referred 
to  I  was  invited  to  take  an  active  part,  enjoying  fellowship 
with  their  members,  and  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  con- 
clusion at  which  each  arrived.  In  the  action  on  the  evangelical 
basis  by  the  Convention  of  1913  I  was  seriously  disappointed, 
and  voted  with  the  large  minority.  But  the  following  resolu- 
tion was  heartily  adopted  without  debate  by  this  Convention : 

"The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  requires  of  its 
members  or  officers  no  personal  religious  test  nor  subscription 
to  any  creed,  but  accepts  as  its  active  members  those  who  are 
members  in  good  standing  of  any  evangelical  church,  regard- 
ing such  church  membership  as  entirely  satisfactory  evidence 
of  eligibility  to  active  membership  in  the  Association." 

All  three  Conventions  authorized  the  Committee  to  cooperate 
strongly  with  local  and  State  agencies  in  developing  the  Sum- 
mer Schools.  And  the  Convention  of  1913  equally  favored 
local  Association  Training  Centers  and  also  the  Fellowship 


CONTINUED  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  PROGRESS  463 

Plan  originated  and  fostered  by  Charles  K.  Ober.  Each  and 
all  these  secretarial  recruiting  and  training  agencies  continue 
to  be  of  increasing  value.  No  part  of  the  Committee's  work 
more  heartily  enlisted  the  sympathy  and  effort  of  its  General 
Secretary. 

To  the  Convention  of  1910  General  Secretaries  Harry  W. 
Stone,  of  Portland,  Oregon,  and  Arn  Allen,  of  Seattle,  brought 
the  proposal  of  an  initiative  and  referendum  measure  as  a 
method — additional  to  the  convention  method — of  initiating 
and  voting  on  measures  relating  to  the  brotherhood.  It  was 
a  carefully  framed  measure,  published  beforehand  by  them,  and 
widely  circulated  in  Association  Men.  It  had  also  been  sent 
to  every  Association  by  mail,  and  at  Toronto  in  quiet  open 
conferences,  both  large  and  small,  delegates  had  discussed,  and 
in  some  features  had  modified  it,  so  that  when  it  was  proposed 
on  the  last  day  the  motion  unanimously  prevailed  without  any 
serious  discussion.  After  participating  in  the  preliminary  con- 
sultations and  conferences,  I  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  seconding 
the  motion  when  it  was  presented  by  Secretary  Stone. 

Of  this  new  aid  in  legislation  first  use  was  made  in  con- 
nection with  the  important  changes  accomplished  by  the  Con- 
vention of  1916  at  Cleveland.  Further  references  to  this  and 
other  important  action  by  the  Conventions  of  1913  and  1910 
are  given  in  another  chapter. 

Fortieth  Year  Anniversary 
December  1,  1909 

A  personal  anniversary  came  into  this  period.  On  December 
1,  1909,  exactly  forty  years  after  the  day  when  I  began  work 
as  an  employed  oflScer  of  a  Committee  of  seven  members  under 
the  title  "General  Secretary  and  Editor,"  I  was  welcomed  by 
the  members  of  a  Committee  of  sixty  members  and  fifteen 
Trustees  to  a  dinner,  where  I  greatly  enjoyed  meeting  my 
fellow-Secretaries  and  many  other  friends. 

Ex-Chairman  Cephas  Brainerd,  Chairman  Warner,  and 
Chairman-to-be  Marling  were  all  heard  from,  besides  the 
principal  speaker  of  the  occasion — Cleveland  H.  Dodge — in 
whose  words  I  again  heard  and  enjoyed  the  voice  of  his  beloved 
father. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

A  SECOND  WORLD  JOURNEY 
Dec.  6,  1906-July  25,  1907 

New  York  to  China 

This  second  world  journey  was  in  many  respects  a  striking 
contrast  to  the  tour  of  1902-3.  It  began  with  a  special  official 
errand  in  Eastern  Asia,  and  was  prolonged  by  other  calls  re- 
ceived en  route  from  St.  Petersburg  and  London,  so  that  gradu- 
ally a  trans-Pacific  trip  became  a  world  tour.  The  original 
errand  was  to  attend,  in  company  with  John  R.  Mott,  in  Japan, 
China,  and  the  Philippines,  important  conferences  and  meet- 
ings, both  of  our  Associations  and  of  the  World's  Student 
Christian  Federation.  An  earnest  call  came  en  route  from  my 
fellow  Secretary  at  St.  Petersburg,  Franklin  Gaylord,  to  ex- 
tend our  journey  to  Russia,  and  later,  from  the  Committee, 
a  call  to  London.  Also  incidentally  an  opportunity  was  greatly 
enjoyed  with  Mrs.  Morse — who  for  many  years  had  been  an 
active  member  of  the  Women's  Foreign  Missionary  Board  of 
our  Church — to  attend  at  Shanghai  the  remarkable  Centenary 
Commemoration  of  Foreign  Missions  in  China  and  to  visit 
some  of  the  missionaries  of  our  own  and  other  churches. 

On  the  evening  of  December  6,  1906,  we  left  New  York  and 
spent  our  first  Sunday  in  New  Orleans. 

En  route  to  Seattle  we  attended  at  Pacific  Grove  the  Stu- 
dents' Conference  of  the  Pacific  coast,  under  the  leadership  of 
International  Secretaries.  There  our  old  friend  Secretary 
Henry  J.  McCoy,  of  the  San  Francisco  Association,  joined  us 
and  a  day  was  spent  with  him  in  that  city.  It  was  eight 
months  after  the  earthquake  and  fire,  but  the  scene  was  still 
one  of  unspeakable  desolation.  With  the  architect  we  went 
over  plans  for  the  new  Association  building,  the  fund  for  the 
erection  of  which  had  been  procured  at  New  York  earlier  in 
the  year. 

The  following  week  was  passed  in  Portland  in  the  cheering 

464 


A  SECOND  WORLD  JOURNEY  465 

company  of  Secretary  Harry  Stone  and  his  associates,  in  the 
midst  of  a  work  for  young  men  which  gives  to  that  Association 
rank  among  the  foremost  in  the  world  brotherhood.  At  Seattle 
we  arrived  only  just  in  time  to  join  Mott  ou  our  steamer,  the 
Minnesota. 

In  her  and  her  sister  ship  the  Dakota  we  took  peculiar  in- 
terest, for  in  the  ship-yard  at  New  London  we  had  watched  the 
building  of  both  these  great  steamers,  which  were  the  largest- 
vessels  then  upon  the  Pacific.  While  we  were  crossing  the 
ocean  the  Dakota  was  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Japan,  and  as  we 
neared  Yokohama  and  passed  the  scene  of  the  disaster,  the  top 
of  her  smokestack  could  be  seen  above  the  surface  of  the  sea. 

With  Secretary  Mott  in  Japan,  Korea,  and  Manila 

In  Yokohama,  January  23rd,  all  our  Secretaries  in  Japan 
met  us,  and  with  them  the  entire  Association  work  in  that 
country  was  reviewed.  In  a  swift,  brief  trip  to  Seoul  the  Asso- 
ciation building  project  in  that  city  was  promoted,  and  evan- 
gelistic meetings  of  extraordinary  interest  were  held.  The 
last  Emperor  of  Korea  was  then  nominally  on  the  throne,  and 
an  interview  with  him,  granted  to  Mott  and  myself,  was  held 
in  the  presence  of  the  Japanese  Resident,  who  was  the  ruling 
power  behind  the  throne.  The  interview  was  an  additional 
expression  from  the  government  of  an  interest  and  cooperation 
in  the  work  of  the  Association,  which  gave  encouragement  to 
workers  and  friends  in  Korea. 

On  our  way  to  Manila,  w^hile  the  vessel  paused  for  a  few 
hours  at  Shanghai,  the  Secretaries  in  that  city  improved  the 
opportunity  for  a  brief  conference  in  the  cabin  of  the  steamer. 
At  Manila  we  entered  at  once  on  a  strenuous  building  fund 
campaign,  attending  meetings  and  conferences  with  our  Sec- 
retaries and  friends.  Meetings  called  for  6:30  a,  m.  did  not 
interfere  with  other  meetings  continuing  into  the  small  hours 
of  the  following  nights!  Four  days  passed  swiftly  in  a  suc- 
cessful campaign  for  the  building  fund ;  in  meeting  Secretaries 
of  the  Army  and  Navy  Work,  missionaries  and  their  families 
and  American  teachers  in  school;  and  in  stimulating  contact 
with  the  strong  sanitary  and  governmental  work  which  Amer- 
ican occupation  had  brought  to  this  city,  and  to  the  group  of 
islands  of  which  it  is  the  capital. 


466  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

With  Missionaries  and  Association  Workers  in  China 

On  our  return  to  China  in  Canton,  a  memorable  day  with 
Dr.  A.  A.  Fulton  and  his  wife  gave  us  vivid  impressions  both 
of  the  Presbyterian  Mission  work  and  also  of  the  populous, 
crowded,  quaint,  dirty,  and  noisy  ancient  city. 

On  our  return  to  Shanghai,  while  important  errands  called 
Secretaries  Mott  and  Brockman  to  Peking  and  Tientsin,  Mrs. 
Morse  and  I  had  opportunity  to  give  some  time  to  her  errand 
as  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Foreign  Board.  After  a  visit 
to  the  missions  and  missionary  friends  in  the  old  city  of 
Ningpo,  where  we  were  shown  "the  most  ancient  Christian 
Church  in  China,"  we  took  the  steamer  for  Tsingtao,  then  a 
German  colony  and  the  port  of  the  Province  of  Shantung.  We 
entered  that  most  populous  province  of  China — the  Province  of 
Confucius — by  the  German  Railroad.  At  three  stations,  Wei 
Hsien,  Tsinan-fu,  and  Tsingchau-fu,  we  were  hospitably  enter- 
tained by  our  missionary  friends  and  gained  new  strong  and 
hopeful  impressions  of  their  remarkable  work. 

The  National  Conference  of  the  Chinese  Associations  now 
recalled  us  to  Shanghai,  where  we  arrived  for  a  third  time 
on  this  tour,  and  met  Mott,  Brockman,  other  fellow  Secre- 
taries on  our  foreign  staff,  and  some  200  Chinese  delegates.  It 
was  a  very  representative  meeting.  Delegates  from  one  of 
the  remote  provinces  required  more  time  to  reach  the  Confer- 
ence than  was  needed  by  us  to  go  direct  from  New  York  to 
Shanghai. 

As  a  senior  delegate  I  was  asked  to  treat  the  theme :  "What 
is  fundamental  in  the  principles  and  work  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association?"  In  a  letter  written  at  this  time  it  is 
recorded  that  "a  very  hearty  Chinese  response  was  made  to 
very  American  ideas  of  what  is  primary  in  the  conduct  of  our 
work  among  young  men.  We  are  told  that  in  China  old  age 
is  not  a  handicap  but  an  advantage,  and  my  forty  and  more 
years  of  connection  with  the  work  seem  to  give  me  such  a 
standing  that  we  are  seriously  considering  whether — when  old 
age  really  overtakes  us — China  is  not  the  place  to  spend  the 
remainder  of  our  lives!" 

Another  item  from  this  letter  may  also  be  quoted: 

"Two  of  the  wealthy  Chinese  Christians  in  the  city  gave  a 


A  SECOND  WORLD  JOURNEY  467 

dinner  to  some  of  the  delegates,  at  one  of  the  chief  restaurants, 
and  all  were  served  in  Chinese  fashion.  Each  course  consisted 
of  a  single  dish  in  the  center  of  each  table,  surrounded  by  many 
side  dishes.  Twelve  courses,  with  about  fifty  side  dishes,  were 
served,  and  included  shark  fins;  birds'  nest  soup;  mandarin 
fish;  rice  wet;  cuttle-fish  soup;  the  'eight  previous  pudding,' 
composed  of  eight  ingredients;  rice  dry;  and  other  items  too 
numerous  to  mention." 

In  Japan  a  Second  Timb 
Out  of  the  Beaten  Track  of  Travel 

Our  first  appointment  in  Japan  was  at  Yokohama,  But  on 
our  way  we  had  an  amusing  and  bewildering  experience  in 
venturing  beyond  "the  beaten  track  of  travel,"  without  the 
language  or  a  guide. 

Mrs.  Morse  was  very  anxious  to  visit  her  friend  Miss  Bige- 
low,  who  for  twenty  years  had  been  quietly  teaching  and  en- 
larging a  school  for  girls  at  Yamaguchi,  a  small  town,  situated 
eight  miles  from  the  railroad,  to  which  very  few  visitors  from 
home  come.  We  had  not  had  time  to  send  word  of  our  com- 
ing. As  we  left  our  train  and  saw  it  disappear,  we  turned 
to  the  non-English  speaking  station  agent  for  instruction.  For 
about  an  hour,  in  the  use  of  signs  and  gestures,  we  wrestled 
with  him,  the  policeman,  the  telegraph  operator,  rickshaw 
men  eager  for  a  job,  and  a  steadily  increasing  crowd  of 
spectators.  We  were  engaged  in  an  effort  to  convince  them 
that  all  we  desired  was  to  secure  two  rickshaws  to  take  us 
to  Yamaguchi.  As  we  were  coming  to  the  conviction  that  we 
must  give  up  defeated  and  wait  for  the  next  train  for  Tokyo, 
a  man  who  had  been  vigilantly  watching  us  stepped  out  of  the 
crowd,  and  offered  us  a  pencil  and  paper.  On  this  I  wrote 
what  we  wanted,  and  returned  it  to  him.  After  slowly  and 
carefully  spelling  out  each  word,  he  called  two  rickshaws, 
helped  us  in,  gave  directions,  and  away  we  went.  The  after- 
noon was  beautiful,  and  the  ride  of  seven  or  eight  miles  into 
the  country  was  restful,  particularly  as  we  felt  all  our  troubles 
were  behind  us.  But  never  were  expectations  and  hopes  more 
without  foundation !  On  reaching  Yamaguchi,  our  conveyances 
stopped  in  front  of  a  rambling  building.  At  the  door  a  smiling 
bowing  group  met  us,  but  no  Miss  Bigelow.  We  said  her 
name  in  all  tones  and  with  every  emphasis,  but  not  in  more 


468  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

than  one  language,  and  they  continued  to  smile  and  invite  us 
into  what  we  afterward  learned  was  a  Japanese  inn.  Then 
Mrs.  Morse  was  asked  to  remove  her  shoes  and  go  upstairs, 
but  I  was  forbidden  to  follow.  Not  finding  anyone  and  growing 
desperate,  she  put  her  head  out  of  the  window  and  called 
out  Miss  Bigelow's  name  till  a  crowd  gathered  in  the  court 
below.  Then  in  despair  she  came  downstairs,  just  as  I  had 
decided  to  insist  on  going  up  to  look  for  her.  Meanwhile  a 
crowd  had  been  collecting  at  the  entrance. 

We  were  now  seven  miles  from  the  railroad.  It  was  late 
in  the  afternoon  and  we  were  indeed  bewildered.  Again  a 
helper  emerged  from  the  crowd,  a  young  man  who  had  just 
come  up  on  a  bicycle.  In  very  good  English  he  asked  if  he 
could  help  us.  To  our  first  question  he  replied :  "I  know  Miss 
Bigelow,  and  will  take  you  to  her.  I  was  a  pupil  in  her  Sun- 
day school  class."  Our  visit — when  at  last  we  had  arrived — 
was  so  delightful  it  more  than  repaid  us  for  any  anxiety  we 
had  had,  and  the  Mission  seemed  pleased  that  we  had  taken 
so  much  trouble  to  find  them  in  a  location  so  far  from  the 
tourist  route.  We  promised  one  another  that  on  our  next 
visit  to  Japan  we  would  plan  to  emphasize  visiting  away  from 
the  railway  route. 

Significant  Small  Gatherings 

Our  oflScial  errand  in  Japan  now  summoned  us  from  Yama- 
guchi,  650  miles  away,  along  the  beautiful  Inland  Sea  and 
through  some  of  the  loveliest  valleys  of  Japan,  to  Yokohama, 
where  Mott  was  meeting  in  conference  with  the  National  Sec- 
retaries of  India,  China,  and  Japan — an  interesting  group  of 
six  International  Secretaries,  graduates  of  Harvard  and  Yale, 
Vanderbilt  and  California  Universities — all  younger  men  than 
Mott,  but  seasoned  in  the  work.  For  three  days  we  enjoyed 
rare  and  stimulating  conference  on  problems  and  prospects, 
men  and  methods.  We  were  optimists,  for  were  we  not  all 
intent  on  spreading  "Good  News"  and  were  not  doors  of 
rarest  opportunity  swinging  open  before  us,  with  the  offer  of 
divine,  all-powerful  cooperation? 

The  meeting  of  the  Federation  Committee  called  us  to  Nikko 
for  two  days  (April  1  and  2).  This  Governing  Committee  of 
the  Federation  began  its  sessions  on  its  special  car  going  to 


A  SECOND  WORLD  JOURNEY  469 

and  returning  from  this  mountain  resort.  It  was  five  hours 
by  rail  from  Yokohama  and  2,000  feet  above  the  sea — a  marvel 
in  the  charm  of  its  natural  scenery  and  in  its  possession  of 
the  highest  forms  of  Japanese  art.  For  us  it  proved  to  be  also 
a  marvel  of  wintry  beauty,  for  we  left  Tokyo  at  4 :30  a.  m.  in 
a  dark  downpour  of  rain,  but  found  the  mountains,  trees,  and 
mausoleums  of  Nikko  covered  with  snow.  There  seemed  to 
be  truth  in  the  Japanese  proverb :  ''Do  not  use  the  word  magnifi- 
cent until  you  see  Nikko!"  Its  magnificence  in  art  is  due 
to  its  having  been  selected  three  centuries  ago  as  the  site  of 
the  tomb  and  mausoleum  of  leyasu,  the  Napoleon  of  Japan, 
who  lived  and  triumphed,  even  unto  the  end  of  his  reign  and 
life,  two  hundred  years  before  the  less  fortunate  Emperor  of 
France  closed  his  career  at  Waterloo  and  St.  Helena! 

The  tomb  of  the  Japanese  conqueror  is  erected,  not  in  any 
structure  of  man's  building  such  as  is  found  in  Paris,  near 
the  Seine,  but  under  the  open  sky,  high  up  on  the  mountain 
side,  where  it  is  enclosed  and  overshadowed  by  a  temple  forest 
of  loftiest  pine  trees.  It  is  reached  by  a  long  and  slow  ascent 
through  a  succession  of  temples,  in  which  Japanese  art  seems 
to  have  exhausted  itself  in  the  expression  of  pure  and  beauti- 
ful forms. 

In  the  Nikko  Hotel  at  the  Federation  Committee  meeting, 
it  was  reported  that  six  years  earlier,  before  the  Russo-Japa- 
nese war,  when  we  voted  to  hold  the  conference  in  Tokyo,  and 
three  years  before,  during  that  war,  when  we  repeated  that 
vote,  it  was  with  the  expectation  that  the  meeting  might  prove 
less  representative  than  its  predecessors,  but  when  the  roll  was 
called  we  found  that  ten  of  the  eleven  Student  Movements  were 
represented,  a  larger  number  then  ever  before.  Important  ac- 
tion was  taken  admitting  national  women's  student  organiza- 
tions from  America,  Britain,  and  Australia,  and  the  door  was 
also  opened  to  others  from  other  countries.  Oxford  University 
was  selected  as  the  place  for  holding  the  Conference  of  1909. 

Federation  Conference  at  Tokyo,  April  3-6 

During  the  four  days  following  our  meeting  at  Nikko,  the 
Federation  Conference  met  at  Tokyo  in  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  building  of  that  city.  Of  the  six  hundred 
delegates  present  the  largest  groups  came  from  Japan,  China, 


470  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Korea,  and  India.  The  two  languages  of  the  proceedings  were 
Japanese  and  English.  For  the  first  time  a  language  of  the 
Orient  was  one  of  the  official  dialects  of  the  Conference.  Be- 
yond expectation  it  proved  to  be  the  largest,  the  most  repre- 
sentative, scholarly,  and  evangelistic  of  the  seven  Conferences 
thus  far  held.  Two  of  Japan's  leading  statesmen  entertained 
the  entire  Conference — Count  Okuma  and  Baron  Goto.  Its 
most  significant  feature  was  the  well  planned  series  of  widely 
extended  evangelistic  meetings  among  students.  They  began 
in  Tokyo  during  the  Conference,  among  the  thousands  of  Japa- 
nese students  and  the  15,000  Chinese  and  Korean  students  then 
in  that  city.  After  the  Conference  the  delegates,  with  well 
chosen  Japanese  interpreters,  carried  efifective  messages  to 
student  centers  throughout  the  Empire. 

Two  pleasant  social  events  during  the  sessions  are  worthy 
of  mention :  a  luncheon  given  by  a  member  of  the  International 
Committee,  the  late  S.  W.  Woodward,  of  Washington,  to  all 
International  Secretaries  present,  and  their  wives;  and  a 
dinner  given  by  a  member  of  our  Presbyterian  Foreign  Mission 
Board,  the  late  L.  H.  Severance,  to  all  missionaries  and  their 
wives.  To  this  the  host,  who  had  been  our  guest  at  luncheon, 
invited  our  Association  group  also.  It  was  a  rare  company 
of  over  200  fellow  workers,  who  can  never  forget  that  evening 
of  gracious  fellowship. 

At  Kyoto — Japan's  ancient  capital — after  the  Conference, 
ground  was  broken  with  interesting  ceremonies  for  a  new  Asso- 
ciation building.  Beyond  any  of  its  predecessors  this  meeting 
of  the  Student  Federation  was  intimately  connected  and 
identified  with  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  The 
Student  Movements  of  Japan,  China,  and  India,  as  well  as 
those  of  North  America,  are  part  of  the  Association  Movement 
in  these  countries,  for  young  men  and  women  of  all  classes. 
The  meetings  were  held  in  an  Association  building,  and  most 
of  the  notices  and  reports  in  the  local  press,  so  we  were  told, 
did  not  discriminate  between  the  Federation  and  the  Associa- 
tion Movement. 

At  the  Okayama  Orphanage  we  spent  a  memorable  evening 
and  morning  with  the  American  missionary  Rev.  J.  H.  Pettee, 
and  the  founder  of  the  orphanage,  J.  Ishii,  the  George  Miiller 
of  Japan.    Twentv  years  before  this,  during  the  visit  of  George 


A  SECOND  WORLD  JOURNEY  471 

Miiller  to  Japan,  Mr,  Ishii  was  a  medical  student,  and  was 
deeply  moved  to  follow  Muller's  example.  He  began  with  one 
boy.  During  the  first  ten  years,  he  told  me,  his  human  help 
came  from  friends  in  America.  Then  the  work  became  better 
known  and  in  1903  he  received  a  decoration  from  the  Emperor. 
At  the  open-air  morning  prayer  service  which  we  attended, 
over  900  orphan  children  were  present — most  of  them  from 
famine  districts.  Mr.  Ishii  was  a  quiet,  modest,  most  interest- 
ing and  useful  Christian  philanthropist. 

While  at  Nagasaki,  before  taking  our  steamer,  we  attended 
the  impressive  opening  session  of  a  conference  called  in  the 
interest  of  uniting  in  one  all  churches  in  Japan  bearing  the 
Methodist  name.  The  session  closed  with  a  communion  service 
led  by  an  old  friend — Bishop  Foss — one  of  the  church  leaders 
actively  promoting  this  movement  toward  church  unity  and 
union. 

China  Centenary  Conference 

From  Japan,  after  the  Conference,  Mott  returned  home,  aud 
for  the  fifth  time  on  this  tour — and  every  time  without  a  storm 
— we  crossed  the  Yellow  Sea,  now  to  attend  with  a  thousand 
missionaries  and  other  delegates  the  memorable  China  Cen- 
tenary Conference.  Its  meeting  place  was  Martj'rs'  Memorial 
Hall,  in  the  new  Association  building.  This  Hall  was  named 
and  the  cost  of  it  defrayed  by  a  fund  set  apart  to  create  a 
memorial  of  all  the  martyrs,  native  as  well  as  foreign,  who 
lost  their  lives  in  the  persecutions  which  accompanied  the 
Boxer  uprisings. 

There  was  something  very  honoring  to  the  Association,  in 
the  disposition  of  the  missionaries  and  Christians  of  China 
to  place  in  the  home  and  building  of  a  work  so  young  as  ours 
an  impressive  memorial  of  these  revered  martyrs  of  our  faith, 
part  of  the  harvest  of  a  century  of  missionary  fidelity.  It 
was  a  great  privilege  to  sit  for  ten  days  in  this  elect  confer- 
ence, and  hear  a  review,  carefully  prepared  by  genuine  experts, 
of  the  entire  field  of  missionary  efifort  in  China  accompanied 
by  thoughtful  discussions  from  these  experts.  One  fourth  of 
the  4,000  missionaries  in  China  were  present.  They  repre- 
sented between  50  and  GO  different  church  agencies,  bearing 
almost  as  many  church  names.     The  principal   departments 


472  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

of  missionary  work  were  treated  thoughtfully,  and  with  an 
outlook  toward  the  betterment  and  extension  of  each. 

The  central  theme  was  "The  Church  of  Christ  in  China." 
Consideration  of  it  was  begun  on  the  first  day  and  was  not 
satisfactorily  completed  in  the  sessions  allotted  to  it.  Its 
treatment  was  prolonged  for  several  days  in  such  fragments 
of  time  as  were  obtainable.  A  principal  query  and  problem 
suggested  was  "What  is  to  be  the  attitude  of  this  Church  in 
China  toward  those  differences  which  exist  between  the  many 
denominations  and  agencies  represented  in  this  Conference?" 

Great  solicitude  was  felt,  apparently  greater  than  in  regard 
to  any  other  theme,  that  all  should  agree  in  the  reply  to  that 
question.  So  a  special  committee  was  appointed  on  the  first 
day  to  bring  in  a  special  report.  Toward  the  close  of  the 
sessions  the  question  was  finally  put :  "Shall  the  unity  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  China  be  unaffected  and  unvexed  by  these 
differences?"  The  affirmative  response  was  strong  and  posi- 
tive. The  call  for  the  dissent  of  any  delegate  was  followed  by 
some  moments  of  a  growing  silence  that  could  be  felt.  Then 
the  whole  audience  rose  and  sang:  "Praise  God  from  whom 
all  blessings  flow."  In  front  of  them  as  they  sang,  shone  the 
motto  of  the  conference,  in  what  seemed  to  be  letters  of  light, 
above  the  brightness  of  the  sun — Ut  Unnm  Sint — "That  they 
may  be  one !"  To  me  this  seemed  the  most  impressive  moment 
of  the  ten  days.  But  these  delegates  did  not  stop  with  the 
singing  of  the  doxology.  A  committee  was  appointed  with  this 
unanimous  vote  of  the  conference  behind  it.  Instructions  were 
given  to  it  to  promote  the  unity  desired. 

This  committee  was  a  wholly  advisory  agency.  I  had  been 
familiar  with  a  vigorous  agency  of  this  kind  for  many  years. 
It  was  also  emphatically  declared  to  be  without  authority, 
and  the  conference  could  not  be  called  upon  to  supply  money 
for  any  expense  incurred  by  the  committee.  These  notes  of 
caution  had  to  me  a  very  familiar  sound,  and  I  felt  exceed- 
ingly hopeful  that  the  future  of  this  committee,  and  of  the 
work  of  unity  and  cooperation  for  which  it  stood,  would  be 
crowned  with  successful  achievement. 

This  action  of  the  conference  called  for  a  Provincial  Council 
in  each  Province  of  China,  and  then  for  representatives  of 
all  these  Councils  to  unite  in  establishing  a  National  Federal 


A  SECOND  WORLD  JOURNEY  473 

Council.  It  was  a  good  beginning  and  it  strengthened  the 
sentiment  of  unity,  but  for  an  effective  organization  a  quali- 
fied employed  officer  of  course  was  needed.  Six  years  later, 
in  1913,  the  General  Secretary  of  the  Continuation  Committee 
of  the  Edinburgh  Decennial  Conference  (1910) — John  R.  Mott 
— after  holding  a  series  of  Provincial  Conferences,  which  also 
created  a  National  Conference,  was  able  to  accomplish  the 
appointment  of  a  Continuation  Committee  of  China,  with  a 
qualified  employed  officer,  and  the  sentiment  of  unity  is  gaining 
strong  expression  in  interdenominational  cooperation. 

Many  of  the  missionaries  came  from  far  away  inland  sta- 
tions, and  some  were  in  native  dress.  The  delightful  spirit  of 
fellowship  and  unity  prevailing  also  found  fine  expression  in 
the  following  significant  action: 

"Resolved,  that  we  recognize  in  the  students  of  the  Chinese 
government  schools  and  colleges  throughout  the  Empire  a 
field  for  Christian  effort  of  great  importance,  and  that  inas- 
much as  we  have  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
an  agency  of  the  Church  especially  adapted  to  carry  on  work 
among  these  students,  we  recommend  the  enlargement  of  its 
forces  to  more  adequately  meet  this  need." 

A  Women's  Missionary  Luncheon 

During  these  days  of  rare  fellowship  in  Shanghai,  Mrs. 
Morse  was  eager  to  meet  as  many  women  missionaries  as  pos- 
sible from  her  own  and  other  churches,  including  also  the 
wives  of  our  Secretaries  and  other  friends.  The  opportunity 
was  a  very  unusual  one  and  to  improve  it  she  concluded  to 
invite  all  she  could  to  a  luncheon  in  the  Astor  Hotel.  Not 
being  able  to  secure  enough  satisfactory  addresses  in  the  short 
time  at  her  disposal,  she  began  inviting  all  whom  she  met 
and  sent  verbal  invitations  by  several  friends.  Of  course  this 
method  left  her  until  the  hour  of  the  meeting  in  uncertainty 
as  to  the  number  of  her  guests.  The  hotel  manager  proved 
equal  to  the  emergency,  entering  into  the  spirit  of  the  enter- 
tainment, and  at  the  time  appointed,  when  double  the  number 
expected  appeared,  with  his  nimble  Chinese  waiters  he  built 
out  the  table  now  from  one  side  and  then  from  another  until 
every  guest  was  comfortably  seated  and  each  one  was  provided 
with  a  menu. 

I  was  honored  by  an  invitation  and  though  only  a  man  and 


474  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

the  only  man  present,  was  able  both  to  hear  and  to  make 
myself  heard.  It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  become  acquainted 
with  many  interesting  workers  whom  I  had  often  heard  spoken 
of  but  never  before  had  met. 

The  last  period  of  our  stay  in  Shanghai  was  spent  in  the 
homes  of  our  Secretaries,  where  we  became  acquainted  with 
the  children  and  enjoyed  the  family  life  and  companionship  of 
our  fellow  workers  as  their  privileged  guests. 

An  Interesting  Dinner  Meeting 

To  this  centenary  meeting  from  many  countries  had  come 
among  the  visitors  many  laymen  leaders  and  Secretaries  of 
our  Associations.  On  the  evening  before  the  conference  opened 
I  attended  in  the  Astor  Hotel. a  remarkable  dinner  meeting. 
Some  fifty  guests  came  together  at  the  invitation  of  a  group 
of  Chinese  gentlemen  actively  identified  with  our  Association 
work  in  their  country.  Among  the  guests  were  many  Associa- 
tion friends  whom  I  had  met  in  England,  France,  Germany, 
and  other  countries.  We  listened  to  fine  addresses  in  the  Eng- 
lish language  from  several  of  our  hosts,  who  were  graduates 
of  the  Universities  of  Virginia,  Cornell,  Yale,  and  a  Chinese 
Christian  college.  Their  theme  was  the  influence  from  the 
Occident  that  had  come  to  the  Orient — especially  to  their  own 
country.  In  succession  they  spoke  gratefully  of  the  messages 
received  concerning  education,  philanthropy,  the  art  of  heal- 
ing, and  the  Christian  religion.  The  last  speaker  was  an 
editor  of  eminence.  He  spoke  from  the  political  point  of 
view.  As  a  patriot  he  alluded  with  frankness  to  the  damage 
suff'ered  by  China  from  the  Occident  by  wars,  the  opium  traffic, 
unjustly  enforced  concessions  of  territory,  and  American  ex- 
clusion acts.  Then,  weighing  in  the  scale  of  patriotic  judgment 
all  these  ills  against  the  good  and  benefit  received  cluring  a 
century  from  the  Protestant  missionary,  he  assured  us,  on 
behalf  of  the  men  of  intelligence  and  education  who  with  him 
were  our  hosts,  that  in  their  opinion  as  patriots  the  good  thus 
received  greatly  outweighed  the  ills  that  had  been  enumerated. 

After  bidding  farewell  to  our  hosts,  as  we  walked  away 
one  of  the  American  laymen  present,  S.  W.  Woodward,  said 
to  me:  "If  I  had  come  from  our  National  Capital  by  direct 
journey  to  Shanghai,  arriving  only  in  time  to  attend  this  meet- 


A  SECOND  WORLD  JOURNEY  475 

ing,  and  if  it  were  necessary  tomorrow  to  take  my  steamer 
home,  what  I  have  heard  tonight  wonld  amply  repay  me  for  the 
journey,  and  its  cost  in  time  and  money." 

Westward  from  Shanghai  to  London 

Early  in  this  journey  there  had  come  from  Franklin  Gaylord, 
our  Secretary  in  St.  Petersburg,  urgent  request  that  I  would 
hold  myself  in  readiness  to  return  home  if  necessary  by  way 
of  Siberia  and  St.  Petersburg.  At  Tokyo  during  the  Confer- 
ence a  cablegram  from  him  notified  me  that  the  call  for  my 
coming  had  been  confirmed  and  the  imperial  authorities  had 
granted  railroad  passes  for  myself  and  Mrs.  Morse  and  four 
other  delegates  over  the  Siberian  road.  I  replied  favorably 
and  the  passes  were  on  their  way  to  Shanghai. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  Centenary  Conference,  the  Com- 
mittee cabled  from  New  York  their  request  that  I  would  return 
by  way  of  London  and  attend  there  with  Vice-Chairman  Mar- 
ling the  biennial  meeting  of  the  World's  Committee. 

Meanwhile,  during  the  Conference,  cablegrams  from  home 
revealed  a  family  emergency  that  called  for  Mrs.  Morse's 
speedier  return  by  the  shorter  Pacific  route  and  I  secured  pas- 
sage for  her  on  the  steamer  Minnesota,  on  which  she  would  have 
pleasant  companionship  with  missionaries  and  other  friends, 
including  a  large  party  from  the  East,  who  had  been  in  at- 
tendance upon  the  Conference. 

Shanghai  to  St.  Petersburg 

The  journey  from  Shanghai  to  St.  Petersburg  occupied  more 
than  a  month  (May  7  to  June  25)  and  was  full  of  interesting 
incident.  Up  the  mighty  Yaugtse  river,  600  miles  on  a  Japa- 
nese steamer  to  Hankow — the  Chicago  of  Central  China — and 
300  miles  further  by  another  steamer  brought  us  to  Changsha, 
a  capital  city  whither  I  was  accompanying  Professor  and  Mrs. 
Harlan  P.  Beach  to  the  Yale,  or  Yali,  collegiate  school,  begun 
only  a  year  before,  and  growing  steadily  toward  a  college  and 
university.  New  Yale  in  old  China  we  found  receiving  a  better 
start  than  was  given  to  Old  Yale  in  the  new  world  two  hun- 
dred years  ago! 

Beyond  Changsha,  the  outpost  of  Presbyterian  missions  in 


476  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

China,  Siangtan,  was  also  visited.  From  Hankow  to  Paoting-fu 
and  Peking  the  rail  journey  of  800  miles  gives  passing  glimpses 
of  inland  China,  fertile  and  barren,  watered  and  parched.  At 
Paoting-fu  a  day  was  spent  with  friends  in  the  presence  of 
memorials  of  the  martyrs  of  1900,  side  by  side  with  tokens  of 
the  rapid  recovery  of  the  Church  in  China  from  her  sudden  and 
cruel  persecution. 

Five  days  in  Peking  and  five  days  in  its  port  city,  Tientsin 
— the  most  improved  modern  city  I  saw  in  China — were  spent 
with  Secretary  Gailey  and  his  associates,  in  touch  with  good 
Association  work  and  workers  and  with  bright  promise  of  more 
adequate  building  equipment  in  the  near  future.  Here  to  a 
group  of  Chinese  telegraphers  by  special  request  I  gave  some 
reminiscences  of  the  inventor  of  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph. 
On  the  way  to  Chefoo  and  its  fine  harbor  I  enjoyed  the  com- 
pany of  an  International  Secretary  under  appointment  to 
.spend  the  summer  in  Association  work  among  the  sailors  of 
our  Asiatic  fleet,  which  frequents  this  harbor  each  summer 
season.  Part  of  my  errand  in  Chefoo  was  to  confer  with  the 
local  committee  there  in  charge  of  this  work.  The  steamer  that 
was  taken  from  Tientsin  bore  a  Chinese  name  signifying  *'The 
way  to  Heaven,"  and  the  little  boat  plying  between  Chefoo  and 
Dairen  had  a  name  meaning  "Resurrection."  Both  conveyed 
us  safely  to  our  destination ! 

From  Dairen  a  visit  to  Port  Arthur  brought  me  in  touch 
with  our  Association  work  in  the  Japanese  Army,  and  with 
the  Secretaries  in  charge  of  this  work  in  both  places.  One  of 
them  accompanied  me  to  203  Metre  Hill  and  to  the  ruins  of 
the  vast  Eussian  fortifications  built  about  the  harbor.  At 
Dairen  Secretary  Hibbard,  who  organized  and  led  the  Army 
Work  in  Manchuria,  joined  me.  The  Japanese  railroad  au- 
thorities granted  a  pass  over  the  Manchurian  road.  The  Amer- 
ican consul  insisted,  and  by  telegram  arranged  that  I  should 
be  the  guest  over  Sunday  at  Mukden,  of  his  friend  the  Consul 
in  that  city,  Willard  D.  Straight.  While  enjoying  his  hos- 
pitality it  was  pleasant  to  discover  in  my  host  a  family  friend, 
who  had  been  cherishing  the  expectation  that  two  of  our 
nieces,  who  were  old  friends  of  his,  would  be  coming  with  me 
and  their  father  on  this  tour,  an  expectation  in  which  all  con- 
cerned had  been  disappointed. 


A  SECOND  WORLD  JOURNEY  477 

The  Japanese  Kailway  changes  to  the  Siberian  between 
Mukden  and  Harbin,  and  on  one  of  the  three  weeklj-  express 
trains  between  Vladivostok  and  Moscow,  ten  days  of  travel 
were  spent  full  of  changing  scenes,  as  we  passed  through  many 
cities,  and  almost  as  many  varieties  of  forest,  plain,  and  moun- 
tain. In  this  longest  railroad  journey  of  my  life,  I  was  greatly 
favored  with  the  company  of  two  valued  friends  and  fellow- 
delegates  at  Tokyo — the  late  lamented  and  beloved  President 
of  the  Paris  Association,  Count  Jacques  de  Pourtales,  and  a 
friend  of  many  more  years,  Em,  Sautter,  then  our  National 
Secretary  of  France,  and  now  (1917)  the  General  Secretary 
of  the  World's  Committee. 

In  Moscow  Secretary  Gaylord  met  me,  and  together  we  made 
what  was  to  both  of  us  a  first  visit  to  that  ancient  city.  In 
St.  Petersburg,  during  a  visit  of  eight  days,  as  a  guest  in  his 
home,  and  in  the  Association,  or  Mayak,  building,  I  became 
acquainted  with  the  good  work  which  for  nearly  nine  years 
he  and  his  wife  most  unselfishly  had  been  accomplishing 
among  the  young  men  of  that  city.  They  seemed  to  me,  as 
foreign  missionaries,  more  isolated  than  any  other  friends  and 
fellow  workers  I  had  met  on  the  foreign  field. 

An  Intervietv  tvith  the  Czar 

It  was  during  the  last  two  days  of  this  visit  that  Gaylord's 
principal  object  in  planning  and  urging  it  was  accomplished. 
This  object  was  the  bringing  of  the  work  and  its  merits  to  the 
immediate  personal  attention  of  the  Czar  in  an  interview, 
requested  for  me  as  the  General  Secretary  of  our  International 
Committee,  en  route  home  from  the  World's  Conference  at 
Tokyo.  In  the  grant  of  railway  passes  part  of  the  request 
already  had  been  complied  with.  From  the  Empress  Dowager 
and  the  younger  brother  of  the  Czar,  the  Grand  Duke  Michael, 
also  had  come  suggestion  of  a  second  interview.  On  the  day 
before  I  was  expecting  to  leave  the  city  an  appointment  was 
received  for  an  interview  with  his  Majesty  at  the  Palace  of 
Peterhof.  This  proved  to  be  a  very  informal,  colloquial 
audience  accorded  to  the  President  of  the  Association,  Senator 
Mestchaninoff,  Secretary  Gaylord,  and  myself. 

His  opening  inquiry  concerning  the  time  of  my  coming  to 
the  city  gave  me  opportunity  to  thank  him  for  the  courtesy 


478  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

he  had  extended  to  me  over  the  Siberian  Railway.  His  next 
inquiry  related  to  our  work,  and  the  errand  concerning  it 
which  had  occasioned  my  visit  to  St.  Petersburg.  This  opened 
the  way  to  accomplish  part  of  our  object  in  seeking  the  inter- 
view. In  hearing  facts  about  the  work  of  the  American  Asso- 
ciations and  its  extension  by  them  to  other  countries,  he  ex- 
pressed surprise  at  this  extension,  especially  to  China  and 
Japan,  countries  whence  I  had  come  to  Russia  on  my  way  to 
Berlin  and  London.  In  this  connection  I  referred  to  Secretary 
Gaylord  as  our  Metropolitan  for  St.  Petersburg  and  Russia. 
Turning  to  the  Secretary  for  information,  he  learned  from  him 
of  the  encouraging  growth  of  the  work  and  expressed  surprise 
at  the  number  of  members — twelve  hundred.  Gaylord  also  re- 
ferred to  the  American  Jubilee  Convention  at  Boston  in  1901 
and  the  presence  among  the  delegates  from  abroad  of  Father 
Vassilieff,  a  priest  of  the  Greek  Church,  who  is  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  St.  Petersburg  Association  and  who  took  part  in 
the  sessions  of  that  American  Convention. 

At  this  fitting  time  I  tendered  to  him  the  octavo  volume  we 
had  brought,  entitled  "Jubilee  of  Work  for  Young  Men,"  hand- 
somely bound  and  containing  a  full  report  of  that  Jubilee  Con- 
vention, with  a  picture  of  the  priest  just  mentioned.  Its  ac- 
ceptance was  requested  as  a  token  of  regard  from  the  400,000 
members  of  the  North  American  Associations,  to  be  conveyed 
by  him  as  a  gift  to  his  infant  son,  the  Grand  Duke  Alexis 
Nikolaivitch. 

Taking  the  large  volume  in  his  hands,  he  remarked  that  the 
child  was  very  young  to  receive  such  a  gift.  I  expressed  the 
hope  and  expectation  that  the  boy  would  grow  up  to  read  and 
speak  the  English  language  as  perfectly  as  his  father,  and 
become  acquainted  with  what  the  book  contained.  "I  will  give 
it  to  the  boy's  mother  to  keep  for  him,"  he  cordially  responded. 
Gaylord  spoke  with  gratitude  of  Her  Majesty  the  Empress  as 
the  friend  to  whom  we  owed  the  founding,  by  James  Stokes, 
of  the  Association,  or  Mayak,  in  St.  Petersburg.  "Yes,"  he  re- 
sponded, "it  was  from  her  that  I  first  heard  of  your  work." 

Mr.  Gaylord  now  presented  a  small  book  containing  a  report 
of  the  French  Associations  and  alluded  to  his  own  connection 
for  over  six  years  with  the  Paris  Association  as  its  Secretary. 
This  new  emphasis  upon  the  international  dimensions  of  the 


Richard  C.   Morse,  Fra.vklix  Gaylord,  and  Senator 
Mestchaxixoff.  IX  St.  PETERSBrRc,  1907 


A  SECOND  WORLD  JOURNEY  479 

work  led  the  Emperor  to  inquire  of  me  how  I  would  define 
the  object  and  nature  of  our  work  in  our  own  and  other  nations. 
In  response  to  his  inquiry',  I  replied  that  its  main  object  was 
to  band  together  in  each  nation  young  men  who  were  disposed 
and  qualified  to  engage  in  unselfish,  altruistic  Christian  effort 
on  behalf  of  young  men  less  favored  than  themselves.  In  doing 
this  we  believed  we  were  getting  together  in  each  nation,  part 
of  what  was  best  in  the  manhood  of  the  nation. 

When  he  cordially  assented  to  the  excellence  of  this  objec- 
tive, I  added  that  when  I  was  his  age,  the  American  Associa- 
tions were  few  and  feeble,  but  I  had  lived  to  see  them  vigor- 
ously at  work  in  most  American  cities,  and  we  earnestly  hoped 
— and  one  object  of  this  interview  was  to  express  to  him  this 
hope — that  in  his  life-time  this  would  be  true  of  an  extension 
of  this  work  from  St.  Petersburg  to  the  young  men  of  the  many 
cities  of  Russia. 

This  interview  was  followed  on  the  part  of  the  Emperor  by 
a  manifestation  of  increasing  interest  in  the  work  and  by  a 
substantial  contribution,  ever  since  annually  renewed,  toward 
the  support  of  the  St.  Petersburg  Association.  Nine  years 
afterward,  in  1916,  liberty  to  extend  the  work  to  all  the  cities 
of  Russia  was  granted  by  Imperial  authority. 

Interviews  with  the  Empress  Dowager  and  Duke  Michael 

Upon  our  return  to  St.  Petersburg  we  found  invitations  from 
the  Empress  Dowager  and  the  Grand  Duke  Michael.  The  next 
morning  in  response  to  these  we  sought  a  different  railway 
station  and  were  soon  driving  through  the  beautiful  grounds 
of  another  palace — Gatchina — where  we  were  ushered  into  a 
drawing  room.  Among  others  waiting  for  an  audience,  we 
were  introduced  to  General  Linievitch,  who,  during  the  recent 
Russo-Japanese  war,  succeeded  General  Kuropatkiu  in  the  com- 
mand of  the  Russian  Asiatic  Army. 

At  Gatchina  our  first  interview  took  place  in  the  bachelor 
apartments  in  this  palace  of  the  younger  son  of  her  Majesty, 
the  Grand  Duke  Michael,  from  whom  we  received  a  cordial 
reception.  He  was  especially  interested  in  the  story  of  the 
Physical  Department  of  the  Association  and  the  new  gym- 
nasium which  was  being  added  to  its  equipment  and  to  the 
erection  of  which  he  was  a  generous  contributor. 


480  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

After  this  interview,  as  we  entered  the  imperial  reception 
room,  we  met  near  the  door  a  lady  of  short  stature,  very  simply 
dressed  in  black  silk  trimmed  with  lace  of  the  same  somber 
hue.  She  cordially  shook  hands  with  us,  and  asking  in  Rus- 
sian of  the  Senator  whether  we  could  use  that  language,  she 
turned  to  me  and  made  use  of  as  excellent  English  as  we  had 
heard  the  day  before  from  her  son.  There  was  both  simplicity 
and  cordiality  in  her  manner. 

After  inquiring  about  ray  coming  to  St.  Petersburg,  the  Em- 
press was  interested  in  the  same  information  we  had  given 
to  her  son  on  the  previous  day,  and  we  spoke  gratefully  of  his 
reception  of  us,  and  of  the  value  of  the  interest  he  had  mani- 
fested, not  alone  to  the  work  in  Russia  but  elsewhere  in  other 
countries.  She  liked  the  idea  and  object  of  our  work,  and 
when  I  spoke  of  what  Russian  young  men  could  do  for  their 
fellow  young  men,  she  referred  in  a  tone  of  sadness  to  the 
present  condition  of  the  country.  Under  instruction  as  to  what 
would  be  considered  courteous  and  not  unacceptable,  I  ven- 
tured to  ask  for  a  signed  photograph  of  herself  and  His  Majesty 
the  Czar.  This  she  graciously  promised — a  promise  which  was 
kept  in  due  season  upon  my  return  home. 

We  noticed  that  on  one  wrist  the  Empress  wore  a  plain  gold 
bracelet  which  riveted  our  attention,  for  we  had  heard  the 
interesting  story  of  its  being  placed  there.  In  the  last  year 
of  the  life  of  her  husband,  the  late  Czar  of  Russia,  they  were 
in  a  store  together,  where  she  took  a  fancy  to  a  plain  bracelet 
and  called  his  attention  to  it.  At  that  time  he  had  become 
aware  that  he  had  not  long  to  live.  On  returning  to  the 
Palace,  he  sent  a  friend  to  buy  the  bracelet,  and  requested  that 
after  his  death  on  her  first  "name's  day" — namely,  the  anni- 
versary of  the  day  when  as  an  infant  she  had  received  her 
name  and  on  each  return  of  which  he  had  always  placed  a  gift 
beneath  her  pillow — this  bracelet  should  be  given  her  in  the 
usual  way.  It  is  said  that  when  she  found  it  on  her  name's 
day  morning  she  fainted,  and  on  her  recovery  had  the  bracelet 
fastened  upon  her  wrist  in  such  a  way  that  it  could  not  be 
removed,  and  there  it  has  ever  since  remained. 

We  were  then  taken  through  the  beautiful  corridors  and 
apartments  of  the  palace  to  a  room  where  luncheon  was  served 
to  us,  as  on  the  previous  day. 


A  SECOND  WORLD  JOURNEY  481 

World's  Committee  Meeting  in  London 

After  these  interviews  I  began  my  jonrnev  to  London  by  way 
of  Berlin,  where  a  morning  was  spent  with  my  friends,  the  late 
Baron  von  Kothkirch,  who  since  the  death  of  Count  Bernstofif 
had  been  chosen  I'resident  of  the  ChristUcher  Verein  Junger 
Manner,  and  Christian  I'hildius,  Secretary  of  the  World's  Com- 
mittee, with  whom  the  journey  was  continued,  as  we  were  both 
on  our  way  to  attend  in  London  the  meeting  of  that  Committee, 
This  meeting  was  held  in  the  building  on  Russell  Square,  which 
for  many  years  had  been  the  home  of  Sir  George  Williams, 
and  where  I  had  often  received  a  welcome  from  him.  Now, 
as  the  generous  gift  of  his  family,  this  home  had  become  the 
building  and  headquarters  of  the  English  National  Council. 
Here  for  several  days  the  World's  Committee  deliberated  upon 
the  work  of  the  Committee  and  the  program  of  the  approach- 
ing World's  Conference  to  be  held  the  following  year  in  Ger- 
many at  Barmen  Elberfeld. 

At  the  time  of  our  Committee  meeting,  the  Diamond  Jubilee 
of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  was  being  commemorated  in  Lon- 
don. With  its  formation  sixty-one  years  ago  both  my  father 
and  his  brother  Sidney  were  identified,  the  latter  taking  part 
in  the  organization  at  London  in  1846,  and  I  was  deeply  in- 
terested in  attending  some  of  the  sessions  of  the  Jubilee 
meeting. 

A  Summary  Review 

While  in  London,  in  response  to  an  interviewer,  I  made  the 
following  mention  in  a  summary  vfnj  of  the  world  tour  I  was 
completing:  ''Many  times  I  have  come  to  London.  Thirteen 
of  these  visits  were  made  on  the  way  to  attend  either  the 
World's  Committee  or  the  World's  Conference  of  our  Associa- 
tions. Heretofore  I  have  always  crossed  the  ever  narrowing 
Atlantic  ferry.  This  time  the  broad  Pacific  and  three  conti- 
nents were  traversed  by  a  route  so  circuitous  and  visits  so 
repeated,  by  reason  of  Association  errands,  that  the  Yellow 
Sea  was  crossed  five  times  and  in  all  ten  thousand  miles  of 
ocean,  sea,  and  river  and  seventeen  thousand  miles  overland 
have  been  travelled.  Although  it  takes  more  time  this  trans- 
continental route  is  heartily  recommended.  It  is  less  monoto- 
nous than  the  Atlantic  journey. 


482  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

On  the  eastern  coast  of  Asia  twenty-seven  cities  were  visited, 
including  the  political  and  commercial  capitals  and  the  great 
port  cities  of  Japan  and  China,  of  the  Philippines,  Korea,  and 
Manchuria.  In  sixteen  of  these,  including  all  the  capital  cities, 
twenty  Secretaries  of  our  International  Committee  were  found 
— some  of  them  still  studying  the  language  and  all  of  them 
devoting  their  lives  to  work  among  young  men.  Already  they 
had  enlisted  and  trained  an  equal  number  of  native  fellow 
Secretaries.  In  eight  other  cities  Secretaries  like  these  men 
are  importunately  asked  for. 

In  four  cities  Association  buildings  are  erected  and  occupied, 
three  of  them  secured  wholly  by  American  money.  But  the 
largest,  latest,  and  best,  in  the  city  of  Shanghai,  was  secured 
by  contributions  both  from  abroad  and  from  Chinese  friends, 
one  of  whom,  a  Confucianist,  when  frankly  informed  that  the 
great  object  of  the  work  was  to  make  young  men  genuine  Chris- 
tians, replied :  'Yes !  but  I  observe  that  when  young  men  are 
made  such  Christians  they  are  also  made  better  men — there- 
fore I  am  a  friend  of  your  work.'  The  record  of  Association 
work  in  the  Japanese  Manchurian  Army  during  the  recent  war 
has  greatly  contributed  to  give  standing  and  secure  support 
for  this  work  among  Japanese  young  men. 

The  last  of  these  cities  visited  was  Mukden,  the  capital  of 
Manchuria.  From  there  an  eleven  days'  journey  overland  of 
5,000  miles  and  more  brought  me  to  Moscow  and  St.  Petersburg, 
where  I  was  entertained  by  an  American  Secretary,  Franklin 
Gaylord.  During  nine  laborious  years  he  has  accomplished  so 
excellent  a  work  among  Russian  young  men  that  in  the  Palaces 
of  Peterhof  and  Gatchina  helpful  interviews  on  its  behalf  were 
granted  by  his  Majesty  the  Czar  of  Russia,  his  younger  brother 
Duke  Michael,  and  their  mother  the  Empress  Dowager. 

This  progress  of  Association  work  in  the  Far  East  and  the 
Russian  Empire  gives  impulse  to  redoubled  effort  for  the  exten- 
sion of  the  rule  and  Kingdom  of  Christ  among  young  men 
throughout  the  world." 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
SUMMER   SCHOOLS  AND   PERIODICALS 

The  Summer  Conferences  and  Schools 

The  first  Associatiou  agency  to  attempt  educational  use  of 
the  summer  season  was  ''The  Western  Secretarial  Institute," 
later  known  as  ''The  Institute  and  Training  School  of  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations,"  with  headquarters  at  Chicago. 
Now  (1917)  it  is  "The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Col- 
lege" at  Chicago,  with  summer  schools  and  conferences  at  Lake 
Geneva.  This  school  was  begun  in  1884  in  a  camp  at  Lake 
Geneva,  Wisconsin,  started  by  a  group  of  Association  Secre- 
taries, among  whom  Pioneer  Secretary  Robert  Weidensall 
represented  the  International  Committee  and  its  staff.  From 
the  beginning  its  summer  term  has  grown  steadily  in  training 
efficiency. 

In  188G  at  Mt.  Hermon,  Massachusetts,  the  first  Student 
Summer  Conference  was  held  and  ever  since  has  been  continued 
at  Northfield.'  Its  object  however,  and  that  of  its  many  Student 
Conference  children, ^  has  been  to  train  not  employed  officers 
but  volunteer  workers  from  the  Student  Associations. 

Out  of  these  Student  Conferences  was  developed,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1904,  a  triennial  training  conference  for  Student  Asso- 
ciation Secretaries. 

A  Beginning  at  Silver  Bay 

At  Silver  Bay  on  Lake  George,  New  York,  another  agency 
for  training  Association  Secretaries  was  begun  in  the  summer 
of  1904.  At  that  time,  on  this  beautiful  spot,  a  large  piece 
of  hotel  property  was  owned  by  a  benevolent  citizen  and  ardent 
friend  of  Christian  work,  Silas  H.  Paine.  In  1901  Luther  D. 
Wishard  was  pioneering  a  forward  movement  in  foreign  mis- 
sion work,  and,  with  the  cooperation  of  Mr.  Paine,  a  conference 
in  aid  of  this  movement  was  held  at  the  Silver  Bay  Hotel,  and 

I  For  mention  of  these  children,  see  pp.  354,  370. 

483 


484  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Wishard  became  enthusiastic  to  secure  this  property  for  con- 
ferences of  Christian  workers. 

Mr.  Paine  sympathized  with  the  proposal,  regretting  his 
inability  to  give  the  property  to  agencies  which  could  make  this 
desirable  use  of  it.  During  the  two  following  summers,  with 
his  cooperation,  conferences  were  conducted  not  only  by  Wish- 
ard but  by  the  Young  People's  Missionary  Movement,  and  also 
by  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  for  both  student 
and  city  delegates. 

To  these  conferences,  in  1903,  was  added  the  first  in  which 
the  International  Committee  and  its  staff  began  to  take  part. 
It  was  a  summer  conference  of  older  Christian  boys  and 
workers  with  boys,  and  was  called  and  led  by  a  joint  committee 
on  which  the  Committees  of  the  New  England  and  Middle 
States,  the  Eastern  Canadian  Provinces,  the  faculty  of  the 
Springfield  School — now  a  college — and  the  International 
Committee  were  represented. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  an  educational  undertaking 
destined  to  be  of  the  greatest  value  to  the  Association  Move- 
ment. Under  this  informal  committee  the  conferences  of  the 
two  following  years,  19034,  proved  so  satisfactory  that  its 
members  consulted  with  the  other  agencies  making  use  of  Sil- 
ver Bay,  and  with  Mr.  Paine,  who  had  become  desirous  that  the 
property  should  be  acquired  by  those  who  would  make  perma- 
nent use  of  it  for  conferences  in  the  interest  of  Christian  work. 

Accordingly  a  corporation — The  Silver  Bay  Association — 
was  formed,  with  a  charter  to  acquire  the  property.  It  was 
composed  of  members  from  the  International  and  State  Com- 
mittees and  the  other  agencies  concerned. 

A  joint  committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
agencies  using  the  property  was  known  first  as  "The  Lake 
George  Committee"  and  is  now  "The  Eastern  Association 
School." 

To  the  Jubilee  Convention  at  Buffalo  in  1904  the  Interna- 
tional Committee  reported  this  educational  undertaking  and 
was  authorized  to  promote  it. 

An  Eastern  Association  School  at  Silver  Bay 

At  Lake  Geneva  leaders  in  State  and  local  work  had  de- 
veloped the  Institute.    At  Silver  Bay  a  similar  State  and  local 


SUMMER  SCHOOLS  AND  PERIODICALS  485 

leadership  was  strongly  desired  and  planned  by  the  Interna- 
tional Committee.  But,  in  point  of  fact,  upon  that  Committee 
and  its  staff  has  rested  the  chief  responsibility  in  the  admin- 
istration of  both  the  Silver  Bay  Corporation  and  the  Eastern 
Association  School. 

From  its  beginning  the  undertaking  enlisted  my  heartiest 
sympathy,  and  at  the  outset  I  was  able  to  lend  a  hand  in 
securing  what  was  needed  to  purchase  the  property  of  1,500 
acres,  beautiful  for  situation  on  one  of  our  most  beautiful  lakes. 
To  one  of  the  inquiring  contributors  at  that  time  I  replied : 
"Our  object  is  both  vocational  and  vacational.  The  promotion 
of  either  by  itself  seems  worthy  of  the  whole  fund,  while  a 
combination  of  both  more  than  doubles  the  benefit  which  would 
result  from  the  attainment  by  itself  of  either  object." 

Expectation  on  both  these  lines  has  been  fulfilled.  By  its 
more  rapid  growth  the  Eastern  School  carried  to  the  older  one 
at  Lake  Geneva  helpful  suggestion,  and  both  together  stimu- 
lated the  establishment  of  similar  institutes  at  Lake  Couchich- 
ing,  Canada  (1908)  ;  Estes  Park,  Colorado  (1910)  ;  Blue  Ridge, 
North  Carolina  (1912)  ;  and  for  Colored  Secretaries  at  first 
on  Chesapeake  Bay  (1908)  and  later  (1915)  at  Harper's  Ferry. 

Their  growing  educative  influence  upon  the  Association  em- 
ployed officer  of  every  class,  and  in  every  period  of  service,  has 
gradually  given  them  title  to  the  name  of  Continuation  Schools 
for  the  men  of  our  Association  vocation.  Among  the  skilled 
workmen  of  Germany,  this  name  is  applied  to  schools  for  train- 
ing such  workmen  as  long  as  they  live  and  work,  and  vigilant 
attendance  upon  them  no  workmen  of  rank  can  afford  to 
neglect. 

These  secretarial  schools  give  promise  of  a  similar  helpful 
relation  to  the  men  of  the  vocation  they  are  created  to  serve 
and  benefit.  They  have  stimulated  in  fifty  local  Associations, 
the  establishment  by  their  General  Secretaries  of  Training 
Centers  which  have  become  feeders  to  both  the  colleges  and 
Summer  Schools.  Of  this  educational  movement,  the  Fellow- 
ship Plan  with  its  Life  Work  Conferences,  originated  by 
Charles  K.  Ober,  is  a  strong  cooperating  agency. 

Attendance  upon  Summer  Continuation  Schools 

Attendance  upon  the  schools  revolutionized  for  me  the  use 


486  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

of  the  summer  season,  for  such  attendance  became  an  essential 
part  of  my  annual  official  program.  It  has  also  become  one  of 
the  most  interesting  and  stimulating  parts  of  that  program. 
From  the  universities,  professors  come  to  these  schools  to  find 
a  class  of  pupils  differing  in  age,  experience,  and  other  respects, 
from  the  students  they  usually  meet  in  their  class-rooms,  and 
in  answer  to  inquiries,  both  j^rofessors  and  pupils  declare 
that  they  become  profoundly  interested  in  one  another.  An- 
other class  among  the  teachers  is  composed  of  men  of  sec- 
retarial experience  in  Association  work.  The  students  in  these 
schools  do  not  come  only  from  the  ranks  of  the  younger  Secre- 
taries. Speaking  for  myself,  each  summer  I  am  to  be  found  not 
only  among  those  who  teach,  but  equally  among  those  who  are 
learning  in  the  lecture  and  class  room.  Even  more  benefit  comes 
from  other  opportunities  of  fellowship  with  those  who  are 
teaching  and  those  who  are  taught,  with  both  the  younger  and 
older  workers  as  we  meet  indoors  and  out  of  doors,  at  meals 
or  in  the  time  set  apart  for  recreation  and  sport.  It  is  a 
stimulating  and  educative  experience.  Together  these  schools 
constitute  a  fine  contribution  to  vocational  training.  They  are 
not  a  substitute  for  the  colleges,  which  were  started  many 
years  before  them,  but  they  are  more  than  a  supplement  to  those 
professional  schools.  In  their  intimate  relations  to  Association 
leaders  and  to  experienced  Secretaries,  they  furnish  a  correc- 
tive of  earlier  instruction  as  well  as  a  supplement  to  it. 

Beginning  at  Lake  Couchiching  in  1910,  at  Silver  Bay  in 
1911,  at  Blue  Ridge  during  its  first  session  in  1912,  and  later 
at  Lake  Geneva,  Estes  Park,  Chesapeake  Bay,  Harper's  Ferry, 
and  Seabeck  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  I  have  taught  every  year  in 
Summer  Schools,  when  absence  abroad  has  not  prevented  and 
have  greatly  enjoyed  rare  fellowship  in  each  and  all  of  them. 

In  Student  Conferences  at  home  and  abroad  the  emphasis 
of  benefit  is  received  by  the  undergraduate  volunteer  workers ; 
the  emphasis  of  benefit  at  these  Summer  Schools  is  received 
by  Association  employed  officers  who  are  giving  their  lives  to 
the  work  of  their  vocation. 

Leading  men  in  other  callings,  including  the  ministry  and 
the  law,  have  made  inquiry  of  me  concerning  these  summer 
schools  and  when  from  observation  and  experience  I  have  de- 
scribed their  program,  these  inquirers  invariably  reply  that 


SUMMER  SCHOOLS  AND  PERIODICALS  487 

such  an  agency  would  be  of  corresponding  benefit  to  the  voca- 
tions or  professions  to  which  they  belong.  A  study  of  the  entire 
group  of  our  secretarial  training  agencies,  including  the  two 
colleges,  the  more  numerous  and  largely  attended  continuation 
schools  and  training  centers,  the  Fellowship  Plan,  and  the  much 
older  Secretarial  Bureau  and  Employed  Officers'  Conference 
leads  one  to  the  conviction  that  this  group  constitutes  probably 
the  most  valuable  asset  possessed  by  the  Association  Movement. 

Periodicals  of  the  North  American  Associations 
Quarterly  and  Association  Monthly 

Almost  from  the  beginning  of  the  Association  Movement  on 
this  continent,  periodicals  were  issued  under  the  auspices  of 
the  International  Convention. 

Soon  after  its  location  in  New  York  in  1866,  the  International 
Committee  issued  a  Quarterly,  edited  by  its  members.  This 
periodical  was  superseded  by  a  monthly  paper,  of  which  for 
two  years  (1870-71)  I  was  editor  and  publisher  and  advertis- 
ing agent.  From  this  beginning,  and  throughout  my  connec- 
tion with  the  Committee,  I  have  been  profoundly  interested  in 
helping  to  secure  for  the  Association  brotherhood  and  its  work, 
a  self-supporting  periodical  of  wide  circulation  and  influence. 

Contrary  to  plan  and  expectation,  the  Association  Monthly 
was  discontinued  fourteen  months  after  I  had  resigned  as 
editor  and  had  become  wholly  absorbed  in  the  General  Secre- 
taryship. But  the  abiding  interest  of  both  Committee  and 
General  Secretary  in  a  periodical  for  the  Associations  was  not 
discontinued  at  that  time  (April,  1873). 

For  a  year  or  more  the  publishers  of  the  Illustrated  Chris- 
tian Weekly,  then  issued  by  the  American  Tract  Society,  and 
edited  by  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  agreed  with  the  Committee  to 
devote  several  columns  each  week  to  items  of  Association  news, 
the  material  for  which  was  furnished  directly  by  the  Associa- 
tions, or  from  the  International  office,  through  the  General 
Secretary. 

In  1874  the  New  York  Evening  Mail  joined  the  Christian 
Weekly  in  receiving  and  publishing  these  items  of  news,  espe- 
cially in  its  weekly  edition.  To  the  Convention  of  1875,  the 
Committee's  report  suggested  that  "to  the  great  advantage  of 


488  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

every  Association,  it  could  employ  the  services  of  a  competent 
person  to  devote  his  whole  time  to  the  supply  of  fresh  and 
interesting  Association  intelligence  to  leading  newspapers  all 
over  the  country."  But  the  money  for  such  a  news  agent  was 
not  obtained,  and  the  supply  of  items  from  the  Committee's 
office  to  the  papers  named  was  continued. 

The  Watchman 

This  did  not  prove  a  satisfactory  substitute  for  a  brotherhood 
periodical.  Many  local  Associations,  then  as  now,  published 
bulletins.  Among  these  was  The  Watchman,  published  by  the 
Chicago  Association,  and  edited  by  its  Secretary,  W.  W.  Van 
Arsdale,  who  had  first  come  to  the  attention  of  the  Interna- 
tional Convention  in  1874,  at  its  meeting  in  Dayton,  Ohio.  He 
was  then  in  charge  of  a  railroad  reading-room  which  had  been 
opened  under  Association  management  in  the  Kock  Island  Sta- 
tion in  Chicago.  At  the  invitation  of  the  Committee  he  gave 
to  that  Convention  an  account  of  Association  work  among 
railroad  men,  then  in  its  infancy,  the  first  organization  having 
been  formed  only  two  years  before  in  Cleveland.  Shortly  after 
this  he  became  General  Secretary  of  the  Chicago  Association, 
and  issued  a  bulletin  containing  news  and  notices  of  a  local 
character.  Gradually  as  he  broadened  the  scope  of  the  news 
reported,  and  the  themes  treated,  hearty  cooperation  was  given 
to  him  from  the  International  office,  and  by  his  fellow  Sec- 
retaries in  the  Secretaries'  Conference,  where  the  claims  and 
merits  of  The  Watchman  and  its  editor  were  heartily  ap- 
preciated. 

In  the  Committee's  Eeport  to  the  Convention  of  1877,  after 
the  usual  allusion  to  the  Christian  Weekly,  and  the  New  York 
Mail,  mention  was  made  of  The  Watchman,  under  the  manage- 
ment of  W.  W.  Van  Arsdale.  "It  is  a  weekly  paper,  wholly 
occupied  with  intelligence  about  Associations,  and  what  tends 
to  promote  their  best  welfare.  .  .  .  The  circulation  of  it 
among  our  members  would  be  a  substantial  benefit  to  the 
cause."  Convention  after  Convention  received  and  responded 
approvingly  to  the  Committee's  commendation  of  the  Chicago 
paper:  "Not  as  an  official  organ,  but  simply  as  a  medium  of 
communication  between  all  who  are  active  in  the  Conventions, 
and  for  the  distribution  of  news  and  purposes  of  discussion, 


SUMMER  SCHOOLS  AND  PERIODICALS  489 

it  merits  and  should  receive  the  hearty  cooperation  of  every 
person  interested  in  the  purposes  of  the  Associations."  This 
continued  emphasis  was  due  not  only  to  the  excellence  of  the 
periodical,  but  also  to  the  strong  conviction  felt  by  Chairman, 
members,  and  General  Secretary,  that  it  would  be  of  great 
advantage  to  the  Association  Movement  if  its  representative 
periodical,  with  a  growing  circulation  and  influence,  could  be 
successfully  created  and  circulated  from  Chicago  rather  than 
from  New  York.  Such  strong  unifying  influence  from  the  capi- 
tal city  of  the  Central  West,  cooperating  with  kindred  unifying 
influences  from  the  Committee  in  New  York,  would  form  a  bet- 
ter and  stronger  unity  than  could  be  secured  by  attempting 
again  to  issue  the  periodical  from  the  Committee's  office.  Our 
experience  with  the  Association  Monthly,  1870-73,  confirmed 
us  in  this  conviction,  and  every  Convention  of  the  period  ap- 
proved this  policy. 

The  Secretaries'  Conference  strongly  cooperated,  and  gave 
to  the  editor,  as  one  of  its  valued  fellow  members,  every  en- 
couragement. He  was  stronger  as  an  editor  than  as  a  business 
manager,  and  for  a  time,  at  the  close  of  each  fiscal  year.  Secre- 
tary Thomas  K.  Cree  from  our  office  spent  several  days  in 
Chicago,  going  over  the  books  of  The  Watchman,  and  giving 
wise  counsel  concerning  its  business  management.  On  his 
return  he  reported  whatever  deficit  existed,  and  from  among 
the  members  of  the  Secretaries'  Association,  by  efi'ort  from  our 
office,  the  balance  that  was  needed  to  close  the  fiscal  year  of 
the  paper  without  debt  was  secured.  Sometimes  the  largest 
single  contribution  that  McBurney  and  I  made  to  the  Associa- 
tion work  of  the  year,  was  cheerfully  given  in  this  direction, 
in  sanguine  endeavor  to  accomplish  what  we  believed  to  be  an 
indispensable  agency  of  the  work,  and  located  where  it  could 
exert  its  influence  most  advantageously  for  the  whole  brother- 
hood. 

Great  was  our  disappointment  when  year  after  year  wit- 
nessed failure  to  secure  the  circulation  and  management  that 
would  place  it  on  a  self-supporting  basis.  But  the  paper  was 
useful  and  helpful.  Abounding  was  the  testimony  to  this  effect 
at  the  Conventions  and  among  the  Secretaries.  There  are 
veteran  workers  who  today  cherish  grateful  recollection  of  its 
good  influence  upon  themselves  and  others. 


490  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

In  1878  A.  T.  Hemingway  became  General  Secretary  of  the 
Chicago  Association,  and  Van  Arsdale  gave  himself  entirely 
to  The  Watchman,  receiving  cordial  support  from  the  new 
Secretary  in  Chicago,  and  continuing  a  valued  member  of  the 
Secretaries'  Conference.  State  Secretary  Taggart,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, who  had  been  an  acceptable  contributor  to  the  paper, 
was  in  1888  secured  by  Van  Arsdale  as  associate  editor,  and  the 
friends  of  the  undertaking  were  hopeful  of  substantial  prog- 
ress toward  self-support. 

The  Young  Men's  Era 

In  1888,  L.  Wilbur  Messer  became  General  Secretary  in 
Chicago.  With  his  vigorous  cooperation,  a  new  departure  was 
attempted.  The  name  of  the  paper  was  changed.  It  became 
The  Young  Men's  Era,  and  The  Young  Men's  Era  Co.  was 
formed.  Then  Henry  F.  Williams,  International  Railroad  Sec- 
retary, was  induced  to  become  editor,  and  to  this  end  resigned 
his  secretaryship.  This  arrangement  was  reported  to  the 
next  Secretaries'  Conference,  and  the  strong  sympathy  of  its 
members  was  enlisted  in  this  new  departure.  At  this  time 
McBurney  and  I  made  a  contribution  larger  than  any  we  had 
hitherto  made  for  this  purpose,  for  we  thought  the  time  had 
now  surely  arrived  when  the  success  of  an  undertaking,  which 
we  believed  to  be  of  first  importance,  was  to  be  achieved.  Our 
faith  was  strengthened  by  the  knowledge  that  a  stronger  help 
and  support  than  we  could  possibly  command  were  insured 
in  the  generous,  personal  interest  of  Cyrus  H.  McCormick.  His 
father  and  family  had  long  experience  in  establishing  and  sus- 
taining in  Chicago  a  leading  religious  periodical — then  The 
Interior,  and  now  known  as  The  Continent.  In  enlisting  this 
cooperation  ultimate  success  seemed  assured,  but  again  we 
were  disappointed !  When  Henry  Williams  in  1893  retired  as 
editor,  I  said :  "There  must  be  something  in  the  Association 
secretaryship  which  disqualifies  a  man  for  the  work  of  a  suc- 
cessful editor  and  publisher!" 

Men  and  Association  Men  in  Chicago 

Consultation  was  now  entered  into  in  regard  to  a  new  editor, 
and  attention  was  called  to  Frank  W.  Ober,  a  younger  brother 


SUMMER  SCHOOLS  AND  PERIODICALS  491 

of  International  Secretary  Charles  K.  Ober.  He  had  made  good 
as  a  Secretary  at  Albany,  where  a  building  of  first  rank  had 
been  secured  during  his  term  of  office.  He  was  now  Secretary 
at  Omaha  and  an  excellent  building  had  been  obtained  in  that 
city  also.  He  was  editing  a  local  Association  Bulletin,  called 
Men,  which  was  attracting  wide  attention.  Might  not  he  prove 
to  be  the  man  for  whom  we  had  been  searching? 

He  was  called,  and  in  1896  undertook  to  edit  the  paper,  at 
first  under  the  name  of  Men,  but  changed  in  1898  to  its  present 
title,  Association  Men.  More  than  once  during  this  period,  *in 
consultation  with  Cyrus  McCormick  and  Secretary  Messer  con- 
cerning the  contribution  which  the  former  was  willingly  de- 
voting to  this  undertaking,  I  reported  to  him  the  opinion  of 
his  fellow  members  of  the  International  Committee  as  to  the 
value  of  the  paper,  and  of  the  location  of  its  management  in 
Chicago.  He  was  fully  in  sympathy  with  this,  and  continued 
his  generous  cooperation.  Every  Convention  gave  strong  com- 
mendation to  the  paper,  but  self-support  was  still  far  from 
being  secured. 

The  work  of  Secretary  Messer  in  Chicago  was  proving  phe- 
nomenally successful,  and  the  new  central  building  had  been 
erected  and  dedicated,  but  in  consultation  with  me  about  the 
paper  he  confessed  with  painful  regret,  that  this  was  the  only 
Association  undertaking  of  importance  in  Chicago  in  the  suc- 
cess of  which  he  was  disappointed. 

Before  the  Convention  of  1899,  at  Grand  Rapids,  in  that  busy, 
crowded  year  of  the  Spanish-American  War,  he  joined  me  in 
New  York  for  a  thorough  consultation  with  our  Chairman  and 
Executive  Committee,  concerning  the  next  step  to  be  taken  in 
the  conduct  of  the  paper. 

In  the  autumn  of  1897  it  had  seemed  to  the  management  to 
be  wiser  to  cease  its  circulation  as  a  weekly  paper,  and  to 
issue  it  as  a  monthly  magazine,  and  to  this  change  the  In- 
ternational Committee  had  cordially  agreed,  also  to  the  editor's 
policy  of  placing  increasing  emphasis  upon  its  principal  aim : 
"to  serve  the  officers  and  workers  among  the  Association  mem- 
bers, over  30,000  of  whom  were  now  serving  as  Directors  and 
working  committeemen."  As  a  result  of  this  full  conference 
with  the  Chicago  management,  the  Committee  in  its  Report  to 
the  Convention  of  1899  carefully  cited  the  facts  above  named. 


492  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

and  added  the  following  proposition,  which  had  been  w^orked 
out  by  Secretary  Messer  and  myself,  and  approved  by  the  Com- 
mittee: "The  Young  Men's  Era  Company,  and  the  Chicago 
friends  of  the  enterprise,  who  for  so  many  years,  and  in  spite 
of  severe  financial  loss — almost  exclusively  borne  by  Cyrus  H. 
McCormick — have  furnished  this  paper  to  the  Associations, 
have  now  united  in  a  proposition  to  lease  the  paper  to  the 
International  Committee,  with  the  understanding  that  it  shall 
be  published  in  Chicago,  as  heretofore;  that  the  profits,  if  any, 
shiall  be  divided  equally,  during  the  period  of  the  lease,  between 
the  Era  Company  and  the  International  Committee,  and  that 
this  arrangement  shall  go  into  effect,  only  provided  that  a  cir- 
culation among  the  Association  members  amounting  to  10,000 
copies  at  fifty  cents  each  is  pledged,  before  or  by  the  Grand 
Rapids  Convention  of  1899.  The  Committee  is  willing  to  un- 
dertake this  added  responsibility  upon  terms  to  be  agreed  upon 
with  the  Era  Company,  if  the  Convention  shall  see  fit  to  recom- 
mend it." 

This  proposition  was  heartily  authorized  by  the  Convention. 

Frank  Ober  was  continued  in  office  as  editor,  and  for  two 
years  the  magazine  was  published  by  the  Committee  from 
Chicago,  and  at  the  end  of  that  period,  in  September,  1901,  by 
authority  of  the  Jubilee  Convention  of  that  year,  the  Committee 
purchased  the  paper  from  the  Era  Company  for  |12,400.00,  pay- 
ing also  to  the  publishers  |2,230.00  for  stock  on  hand  and  good 
will.  This  arrangement  was  consummated  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  for  the  two  years  of  its  j)ublication  by  the  Committee,  the 
deficit  had  amounted  to  over  |6,500.00. 

Association  Men  in  New  York 

In  the  interest  of  economy  of  administration,  the  Committee 
was  reluctantly  compelled  to  remove  the  office  of  publication 
to  its  own  headquarters  in  New  York,  and  after  three  years 
the  Committee  reported  to  the  Jubilee  Convention  of  1901,  that 
while  the  magazine  was  growing  in  usefulness  and  value  to 
the  brotherhood  in  its  work,  it  had  been  a  heavy  financial  tax 
upon  the  treasury.  In  addition  to  the  payments  to  the  Era 
Company  and  to  the  publishers,  the  deficits  met  at  the  end 
of  each   year  had   increased.     The   total  present  obligation 


SUMMER  SCHOOLS  AND  PERIODICALS  493 

(March  31,  1904)  to  the  Committee,  on  account  of  the  paper, 
including  the  money  for  its  j^urchase,  amounted  to  $29,281.34. 

The  loss  sustained  by  the  Committee  during  the  brief  life 
of  the  Association  Monthly  (1870-1873)  had  been  insignificant 
as  compared  with  this  sum;  yet  in  that  instance  and  equally 
in  this,  the  Committee  were  fully  persuaded  that  the  benefits 
received  by  the  Associations  were  manifestly  of  such  value  as 
to  justify  this  expenditure,  and  the  risk  of  future  deficits.  The 
Committee  therefore  decided  to  continue  the  publication,  but 
to  keep  in  a  fund  by  itself  the  sum  total  of  cost  and  annual 
deficit,  in  the  hope  and  expectation  that  ultimately  principal 
and  interest  represented  by  this  sum  could  be  repaid  to  the 
Committee  out  of  the  earnings  of  the  magazine. 

Thirteen  years  have  now  passed  (1904-1917)  and  the  maga- 
zine has  steadily  grown  in  merit  and  circulation  under  its 
capable  editor,  Frank  W.  Ober,  and  its  business  managers.  In 
1909  it  began  to  close  its  fiscal  year  without  a  deficit,  and  ever 
since  it  has  yielded  a  steadily  increasing  return,  until  in  its 
seventeenth  year  with  the  Committee  it  seems  securely  on  the 
road  to  the  payment  of  its  entire  indebtedness — principal  and 
interest. 

In  the  first  year  of  its  appointment  in  1866,  the  Committee 
began  the  publication  of  a  periodical  as  a  quarterly.  It  was 
continued  as  a  monthly  until  1873,  and  then,  for  twenty-eight 
years,  the  Committee,  its  General  Secretary  and  staflf  exerted 
themselves  to  sustain  a  periodical  away  from  its  oftice.  After 
the  end  of  that  effort,  for  seventeen  years,  publication  of  a 
monthly  was  resumed  by  the  Committee,  and  in  the  fiftieth 
year  of  its  efforts  to  publish  and  circulate  an  Association 
periodical  without  financial  loss,  this  desirable  achievement 
seems  to  be  within  reach.  The  circulation  in  the  closing  months 
of  1917  has  far  exceeded  100,000  copies. 

After  taking  active  part  in  this  endeavor  for  the  last  forty- 
seven  years  I  rejoice  with  exceeding  joy  in  the  success  at  last 
achieved,  not  only  financially,  but  far  more  in  the  production 
of  a  periodical,  in  which  an  editor  of  fine  capacity  voices  with 
growing  strength  the  character-building  message  of  the  brother- 
hood, and  a  competent  publisher  gives  excellence  and  efficiency 
to  the  business  management. 

An  interesting  chapter  could  also  be  written  of  consultation 


494  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

and  cooperation  with  different  department  Secretaries  of  the 
Committee  as  each  has  sought  to  edit  and  circulate  a  periodical 
needed  for  the  efficiency  of  the  work  of  his  department. 

Throughout  the  brotherhood  also  a  multitude  and  a  great 
variety  of  local  and  state  work  bulletins  have  been  issued,  some 
of  exceptional  excellence.  Among  Editorial  Secretaries  might 
be  named :  George  Warburton,  Glen  Shurtleff,  L.  Wilbur  Mes- 
ser,  W,  H.  Whitford,  President  Doggett  of  the  Springfield  Col- 
lege and  others,  who  have  issued  periodicals  which  command 
attention  far  beyond  the  locality  or  constituency  each  is 
created  to  serve. 

In  this  study  of  Association  achievement  in  periodical  litera- 
ture within  the  Movement,  we  discover  what  has  been  and  is 
an  agency  decidedly  helpful  in  promoting  Association  efficiency. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 
NATIONAL  AND  INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONSHIPS 

The  Forming  of  a  Canadian  National  Organization 

John  S.  Maclean,  of  Halifax,  was  the  excellent  President  of 
the  first  International  Convention  I  attended  (1870).  A  promi- 
nent Christian  merchant  of  that  city,  he  was  known  in  those 
early  days  as  the  Bishop  of  the  sixty  Associations  of  Nova 
Scotia,  many  of  which  he  had  founded.  In  my  first  tour  of 
visitation  as  agent  of  the  Committee  I  traversed  his  entire 
diocese,  part  of  the  time  in  the  good  company  of  this  layman- 
bishop.  A  year  later  a  second  and  longer  tour  in  Canada  ex- 
tended from  Nova  Scotia  to  London,  Ontario,  and  to  fourteen 
other  cities  and  towns  of  the  latter  province,  including  Guelph, 
where  a  Provincial  Convention  was  attended.  The  Toronto 
Secretary,  Thomas  J.  Wilkie,  was  then  the  leader  not  only  of 
the  Association  in  his  own  city,  but  also  of  those  throughout 
the  Province,  and  the  majority  of  these  we  visited  together. 

In  my  report  of  that  year  to  the  Committee  I  find  the  fol- 
lowing statement:  "Of  the  sixty-six  cities  large  and  small  on 
this  continent  rejoicing  in  General  Secretaries,  ten,  or  nearly 
one  sixth  of  the  number,  are  in  this  Province.  Clearly  Ontario 
is  in  the  van  of  the  Association  Movement  in  its  Secretarial 
Department."  This  condition  in  the  Province  was  due  to  the 
agency  of  the  Toronto  Secretary,  Thomas  J.  Wilkie,  and  his 
capacity  for  training  men  for  the  secretarial  office  and  work. 

These  two  Canadian  tours  were,  for  me,  the  beginning  of  a 
companionship  with  fellow  workers  in  Canada,  on  the  sound 
foundation  of  which  life-long  international  friendships  were 
formed,  and  afterward  strengthened  in  the  sessions  of  conven- 
tions and  of  Secretaries'  conferences,  in  the  interchange  of 
visits,  and  in  the  strenuous  activities  of  the  International 
Work. 

Such  testimony  to  the  reality  and  strength  of  "the  interna- 
tional mind"  and  spirit  resident  in  our  Association  Movement, 

495 


496  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

could  be  multiplied  out  of  the  experience  of  a  multitude,  on 
both  sides  of  that  unfortified  and  to  us  invisible  national 
border  line  of  four  thousand  miles. 

Beginning  of  International  Fellowship 

The  international  name  and  bond  began  to  be  emphasized 
by  the  North  American  Associations  in  1854  at  Buffalo  in  their 
first  Convention,  Yet  wider  scope  to  this  international  fellow- 
ship was  given  a  year  later,  at  Paris,  by  the  strong  influence 
of  the  North  American  delegation  in  the  first  World's  Confer- 
ence— an  influence  which  steadily  increased  in  succeeding 
World  Conferences.  Many  years  later,  in  their  own  Interna- 
tional Convention  of  1889,  delegates  from  both  Canada  and  the 
United  States  officially  undertook  a  union  work  of  extension 
on  the  foreign  field,  and,  by  reason  of  this  work  in  Near  East 
and  Far  East,  in  Africa  and  South  America,  and  also  in  Aus- 
tralasia and  Europe,  the  word  international  in  our  North 
American  Movement  has  taken  on  increasingly  a  world-wide 
significance.  It  is  a  precious  possession.  Title  to  it  is  worthy 
of  conservation  by  an  increasing  emphasis  on  it  at  every  op- 
portunity. 

Until  1867  Canada  existed  as  a  group  of  Provinces,  and  our 
annual  meeting  of  delegates  Was  known  as  "The  Convention  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  of  the  United  States 
and  the  British  Provinces."  In  1879  the  name  was  changed  to 
"International  Convention  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciations of  North  America."  In  1875  the  Convention  began  to 
add  members  to  the  Committee  who  were  non-resident  in  New 
York  City  and  vicinity.  Among  the  fifteen  of  this  class,  elected 
by  that  Convention,  two  were  from  the  Dominion — John  S. 
Maclean,  of  Halifax,  and  T.  James  Claxton,  of  Montreal.  The 
bond  of  union  was  strengthened  not  only  in  Conventional  ses- 
sions, but  yet  more  in  the  annual  meetings  of  the  conference 
of  all  employed  officers  in  both  nations  and  by  the  creation  for 
mutual  financial  benefit  of  an  Insurance  Alliance  of  these  offi- 
cers. The  International  Convention  became  biennial  after  1877 
and  triennial  after  1899,  but  in  all  this  period  these  secretarial 
meetings  continued  annual  except  that,  after  the  meetings  of 
the  Convention  became  triennial,  they  were  not  held  in  the 
convention  year. 


National  and  international  relationships      497 

Progress  Toward  a  Canadian  Organization 

From  time  to  time,  at  irregular  intervals,  with  the  growth 
in  Canada  of  the  national  spirit,  the  Canadian  delegates  at  an 
International  Convention  arranged  to  hold — in  the  interval  be- 
tween Conventions — a  national  Association  Conference.  The 
first  of  these  was  held  in  Quebec  in  1877  and  the  second  at 
Truro,  Nova  Scotia,  in  1882.  At  both  of  these  the  International 
Committee  was  represented.  These  meetings  were  greatly  en- 
joyed, and  were  progressive  in  their  character,  marking  a 
growth  in  Canadian  national  sentiment,  but  in  no  way  weak- 
ened the  international  bond  of  supervision  and  cooperation. 

Meanwhile  the  oi^ening  of  Western  Canada  by  the  completion 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  (1885),  the  settlement  of  the 
wheat  lands,  and  the  development  of  other  resources  increased 
the  national  spirit,  which  sought  and  found  new  forms  of  ex- 
pression, and  at  the  Jubilee  Convention  of  1904  the  Canadian 
delegates  arranged  for  a  third  National  Conference  to  be  held 
in  Montreal  in  the  spring  of  1905.  To  this  Conference  the  In- 
ternational Committee  received  a  cordial  invitation  and  was 
represented  by  Chairman  Warner,  Vice-Chairman  Marling — 
himself  a  native  of  Canada — Associate  Secretary  C.  J.  Hicks, 
and  myself.    Only  absence  abroad  prevented  Mott's  attendance. 

One  result  of  this  national  meeting  was  a  strengthening  of 
the  international  bond  by  an  increase  of  the  number  of 
Canadian  members  of  the  International  Committee.  The  seven 
active  and  two  advisory  members  were  now  constituted  a 
Canadian  Section,  of  whom  a  working  quorum  of  four  resided 
in  Montreal  with  President  C.  T.  Williams  as  Chairman.  The 
force  of  International  Secretaries  in  Canada  and  the  contribu- 
tions from  Canada  to  the  work  were  correspondingly  increased. 

The  International  Convention  of  1907  approved  the  action 
taken,  and  members  of  the  Canadian  Section  were  given  a 
place  on  each  of  the  sub-committees.  Charles  K.  Calhoun,  for 
many  years  a  Secretary  of  the  Montreal  Association,  was  chosen 
one  of  the  Committee's  Field  Secretaries  and  set  apart  for 
work  in  the  Dominion,  under  the  direction  of  the  Canadian 
Section.  In  this  way  the  work  of  Association  supervision  in 
the  Dominion  began  to  have  organization,  administration,  a 
secretarial  force,  and  financial  support  under  a  National  Sub- 


498  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Committee  of  the  International  Committee.  By  this  arrange- 
ment for  some  years  (1907-1911)  the  efficiency  of  Canadian 
Association  supervision  steadily  increased,  and  the  Canadian 
Section  was  enlarged  to  consist  of  eleven  active  and  three  ad- 
visory members,  with  a  staff  of  five  Secretaries  devoting  their 
whole  time  to  work  in  Canada. 

A  National  Organization  Created 

To  learn  more  fully  what  further  adjustments  were  called 
for,  the  Committee  joined  its  Canadian  members  in  calling 
at  Toronto  on  Dec.  29,  1911,  a  meeting  of  Canadian  Asso- 
ciation leaders,  not  only  in  International  but  in  local  and 
Provincial  Work.  The  Executive  Committee  was  represented 
by  Chairman  Marling  and  the  General  and  Executive  Secre- 
taries, and  John  R.  Mott  was  asked  to  preside.  As  a  result  of 
the  conference,  the  International  Committee  united  with  the 
Canadian  Provincial  Committees  in  calling  a  National  Conven- 
tion to  meet  in  Winnipeg,  May  30-June  12,  1912.  In  response 
134  delegates  from  all  parts  of  Canada  met  in  that  city.  The 
International  Committee  was  represented  by  its  General  Secre- 
tary, and  by  its  Executive  Secretary,  Frederick  B.  Shipp,  who, 
like  Vice-Chairman  Marling,  had  come  to  us  in  his  youth  from 
Canada. 

Previous  to  the  meeting  of  the  Convention,  the  three  inde- 
pendent Canadian  Provincial  Committees  had  expressed  a  pref- 
erence to  be  related  to,  and  made  a  part  of,  any  national  organi- 
zation which  might  be  formed.  In  the  discussion  and  action 
of  the  Winnipeg  Convention,  two  prevailing  sentiments  con- 
trolled and  guided  the  delegates.  One  favored  and  formed  a 
national  organization  with  a  National  Council  and  three  terri- 
torial Committees  of  this  Council.  Each  of  these  committees 
covered  the  same  territory  between  Halifax  and  Victoria  which 
had  been  covered  by  the  preceding  independent  committees  and 
each  was  composed  of  members  from  its  preceding  committee. 

The  second  prevailing  sentiment  was  given  equally  strong 
expression  in  the  following  paragraph  of  the  National  Con- 
stitution :  "Nothing  in  this  constitution  shall  be  interpreted 
as  affecting  the  existing  relations  of  the  local  Associations  in 
Canada  to  the  International  Convention  and  its  Committee." 
By  this  action  the  preservation  of  the  international  bond  of 


NATIONAL  AND  INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONSHIPS        499 

union  was  strongly  affirmed  and  this  constitution  is  still  (1917) 
unaltered. 

Upon  adjournment  of  the  Convention  the  new  National  Coun- 
cil held  its  first  meeting,  and  I  was  asked  to  attend  it  and 
had  the  valued  privilege  of  suggesting  as  their  choice  for 
National  General  Secretary  the  name  of  an  active  influential 
delegate,  Charles  W.  Bishop,  who  for  two  years  had  been  the 
International  Committee's  acceptable  Student  Secretary  of  the 
Canadian  Associations.  The  quorum  of  the  new  Council  was 
located  in  Toronto.  The  Montreal  Chairman  of  the  Canadian 
Section,  William  M.  Birks,  however,  was  urgently  asked  to  take 
the  Chairmanship,  and  consented  to  do  so  for  the  first  year, 
after  which,  and  very  reluctantly,  his  resignation  was  accepted. 

The  new  National  Council  invited  to  its  annual  meeting 
representatives  of  the  International  Committee.  Shipp  and 
I  attended  the  meeting  in  January,  1913,  and  were  deeply  in- 
terested in  the  report  of  the  development  of  the  work  of  the 
National  Council  and  its  Territorial  Committees. 

How  to  continue  the  new  national  organization  on  the  lines 
on  which  it  was  developing,  and  at  the  same  time  live  up  to 
the  declaration  of  the  constitution  adopted  at  Winnipeg,  so 
that  the  relation  of  the  Canadian  local  Associations  to  the 
International  Convention  was  unaffected,  proved  to  be  a 
problem  requiring  time  for  its  gradual  solution.  The  following 
International  Convention  of  1913  favored  the  action  taken  at 
Winnipeg,  waiting  upon  further  development  of  the  national 
organization  and  its  work.  When  Dr.  Mott  became  General 
Secretary  in  1915,  at  his  suggestion  the  National  General  Sec- 
retary of  Canada  became  one  of  the  Associate  General  Sec- 
retaries of  the  Committee,  continuing  to  devote  most  of  his 
time  to  the  work  in  Canada.  Later,  Charles  K.  Calhoun  be- 
came International  City  Department  Secretary.  Of  the  fifteen 
Canadian  members  of  the  Committee,  who  continue  their  con- 
nection with  its  work,  Abner  Kingman  was  chosen  a  Vice- 
Chairman. 

Upon  the  outbreak  of  the  war  in  Europe,  the  great  enlarge- 
ment of  Canadian  Association  work  among  Canadian  troops 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  called  for  a  corresponding  in- 
crease of  the  budget  and  staff  of  the  National  Council.  And 
only  after  the  war  is  over  will  the  International  Convention 


500  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

and  the  National  Convention  of  Canada  work  out  together 
the  brotherly  spirit,  and  intent  of  the  clause  I  have  quoted 
from  the  unamended  constitution  adopted  at  Winnipeg — a 
spirit  deepened  by  their  experiences  as  allies  in  a  world  war. 

World  Conferences  and  Conventions,  1900-1913 

During  the  twelve  years  beginning  with  1900,  in  seven  Euro- 
pean cities  I  attended  seven  meetings  of  the  World's  Commit- 
tee, always  in  company  with  Associate  Secretaries  Hicks  and 
Mott.  By  counsel  and  support  we  cooperated  with  that  Com- 
mittee and  its  staff.  Five  times  the  object  of  the  journey  was 
also  to  attend  in  other  cities,  with  Secretary  Mott,  a  meeting 
of  the  World's  Student  Christian  Federation,  and  three  times 
the  committee  meeting  preceded  the  three  World  Conferences 
of  1902,  1905,  and  1909. 

In  connection  with  each  World  Conference  and  before  or 
after  its  sessions  the  Association  of  the  General  Secretaries 
of  Continental  Europe  held  their  annual  meetings.  The  follow- 
ing allusion  to  one  of  these  I  find  in  a  family  letter  of  August, 
1902,  written  after  the  Conference  of  that  year  in  Christiania : 

"I  tarried  a  day  after  the  conference  to  meet  with  the  General 
Secretaries.  From  London,  St.  Petersburg,  Stockholm,  Berlin, 
Stuttgart,  Geneva,  Rome,  Paris,  Vienna,  Brussels,  and  other 
cities  Secretaries  were  present.  Not  many  years  ago  in  no  one 
of  these  cities  was  there  an  officer  bearing  this  name,  and  de- 
voting his  life  as  now  to  this  form  of  Association  service.  It 
gave  me  a  strange  feeling  to  hear  from  the  chairman  that  I 
was  one  of  the  two  seniors  of  the  entire  group — all  of  whom 
came  from  cities  so  much  more  ancient  than  any  among  us. 
But  the  office  and  the  vocation  owe  their  best  development  to 
workers  in  the  new  world,  and  this  meeting,  and  the  organiza- 
tion it  represents,  trace  their  origin  to  North  American  sug- 
gestion and  precedent." 

In  1900  and  1910  a  visit  to  Ober-Ammergau  was  included  in 
our  program.  In  a  family  letter  of  the  period  I  find  the  fol- 
lowing mention  of  this  episode : 

"At  Ober-Ammergau  I  was  joined  by  my  associates  Messrs. 
Mott  and  Hicks  and  we  witnessed  the  Passion  Play,  in  which 
during  every  tenth  year  nearly  half  the  inhabitants  of  this 
village  unite  under  the  leadership  of  the  priest  and  the  church 
to  present  some  of  the  scenes  of  Passion  Week  with  a  reverent 
impressiveness  quite  indescribable.    What  friends  had  told  us 


NATIONAL  AND  INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONSHIPS        501 

of  the  gracious  helpful  nature  of  the  whole  service  was  abund- 
antly verified  in  our  experience." 

The  Paris  Jubilee  Conference,  April  26-30, 1905 

The  Jubilee  of  the  World's  Conference  was  held  at  Paris, 
where  in  1855  the  first  meeting  was  attended  by  a  small  group 
of  99  delegates,  more  than  half  of  whom  were  from  France  and 
the  remainder  from  seven  other  countries  in  Europe  and  North 
America.  Now  754  delegates,  including  38  from  France,  came 
from  28  countries  to  report  the  accelerating  growth  and  prog- 
ress of  a  brotherhood  planted  on  every  continent. 

The  World's  Committee  held  an  interesting  preliminary  ses- 
sion of  several  days,  in  Paris,  at  which  there  was  a  full  at- 
tendance, North  America  being  represented  by  Vice-Chairman 
Marling  and  Secretaries  Mott,  Hicks,  and  myself.  The  prog- 
ress accomplished  by  the  World's  Committee  was  carefully 
reviewed,  and  a  reaffirmation  of  the  Basis  of  1855  was  heartily 
agreed  to,  with  a  declaration  that  among  its  fundamental 
principles  are : 

1.  Personal,  vital  Christianity  on  the  part  of  the  members. 

2.  The  spirit 'of  evangelical  alliance  according  to  John  17: 
21 — "That  they  all  may  be  one." 

3.  The  activity  and  responsibility  of  members  in  efforts  for 
the  extension  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  among  young  men. 

In  connection  with  the  wording  of  the  second  of  these 
declarations,  the  English-speaking  members  suggested  the  use 
of  the  adjective  "interdenominational" — a  word  well  under- 
stood and  often  used  in  American  and  English  Association 
literature,  and  occurring  often  in  these  reminiscences.  To  our 
surprise,  our  associates  speaking  other  languages  said  that 
there  was  no  equivalent  single  word  by  which  this  could  be 
translated  so  as  to  be  understood  in  the  sense  intended  by  us. 
The  absence  of  this  word  may  have  been  due  in  part  to  the 
existence  for  centuries  on  the  European  continent  of  the  State 
Church  with  what  we  would  term  its  lowering  influence  on 
spiritual  personal  standards  of  state  church  membership.  Our 
European  friends,  including  George  Williams,  had  often  ex- 
presssed  to  McBurney  and  me  their  surprise  that  with  our 
church  or  ecclesiastical  basis  of  membership  we  could  expect 
to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  spiritual,  religious  and  char- 


502  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

acter-making  motive  in  the  administration  of  our  Association 
work.  These  friends  found  it  essential  in  their  work  to  use 
such  a  personal  test  as  is  defined  in  the  Paris  Basis  of  1855 
and  realized  in  the  vital  union  with  Christ  prayed  for  in  John 
17 :  21,  22,  23,  26.  So  now  by  our  associates  the  meaning  we 
intended  to  convey  by  our  peculiar  word  was  translated  into 
their  languages  by  the  phrase :  "spirit  of  evangelical  alliance." 
These  words,  therefore,  were  introduced  and  interpreted  by 
the  words  of  our  Lord's  Prayer  in  John  17 :  21 :  "That  they  all 
may  be  one  ...  in  Me  .  .  .  and  in  Thee" — words,  the  cita- 
tion of  which  is  engraved  on  the  Association  badge  adopted 
in  1881  by  the  Conference  and  in  use  in  all  countries. 

At  the  opening  session  this  reaffirmation,  with  the  declara- 
tion above  quoted,  was  impressively  proposed  to  the  Confer- 
ence in  the  name  of  its  Committee  by  Prince  Oscar  Bernadotte, 
President  of  the  Swedish  National  Alliance.  It  was  unani- 
mously adopted  by  a  rising  vote,  the  delegates  standing  for 
a  moment  in  silence  and  then  singing  to  one  tune,  but  in  the 
various  languages  of  the  Conference,  the  verse  beginning 
"Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow." 

Another  very  significant  meeting  occurred  at  the  Hotel  Con- 
tinental, where  the  delegates  gathered  in  the  large  salon  to 
greet  Sir  George  Williams.  For  the  first  time  in  these  fifty 
years  he  was  unable,  because  of  the  infirmities  of  age,  to  attend 
the  sessions,  but  he  was  able  to  receive  the  greetings  of  the 
delegates,  extended  to  him  by  their  leaders,  and  to  respond  in 
the  following  words:  "Young  men  of  France,  I  wish  to  say 
that  if  you  would  have  a  happy,  useful,  and  profitable  life, 
give  your  hearts  to  God  while  you  are  young.  My  last  legacy 
— and  it  is  a  precious  one — is  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation. I  leave  it  to  you,  beloved  Young  Men  of  Many  Coun- 
tries, to  carry  on  and  extend.  I  hope  you  will  be  as  happy 
in  the  work  as  I  have  been,  and  more  successful ;  for  this  will 
mean  blessedness  to  your  own  souls,  and  to  the  souls  of  multi- 
tudes of  others." 

At  the  close  of  this  remarkable  session  of  the  Conference, 
at  the  invitation  of  his  son  Howard  Williams,  I  dined  with 
Sir  George  as  his  only  guest  that  evening.  It  was  the  last 
of  many  meetings  and  many  meals  we  had  enjoyed  together 
quietly  at  his  home  and  office  and  in  many  Association  gather- 


NATIONAL  AND  INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONSHIPS        503 

ings  elsewhere — meetings  and  intercourse  invaluable  to  me  and 
the  memory  of  which  I  cherish  with  joy  and  gratitude. 

World's  Conference  of  1909 

With  Messrs.  Marling,  Mott,  and  Hicks  I  attended  the 
World's  Conference  of  1909  at  Barmen  Elberfeld,  Germany, 
for  which  admirable  preparation  had  been  made  by  German 
National  Secretary  Helbing. 

The  delegates  were  received  with  hearty  hospitality,  and 
on  the  Delegates'  Committee  our  two  usual  representatives 
rendered  the  service  of  veteran  members.  To  the  Conference 
of  1909  the  Committee  reported  the  calling  of  a  third  General 
Secretary  in  the  person  of  Emmanuel  Sautter,  for  many  years 
National  Secretary  of  the  Associations  of  France. 

A  World's  Missionary  Conference  and  a  World's  Committee 
Meeting 

In  the  years  1910  and  1911  three  errands  called  me  across  the 
Atlantic.  At  Vienna  a  plenary  meeting  of  the  World's  Con- 
ference was  attended.  To  Budapest  and  Hamburg  visits  were 
made  in  the  interest  of  the  Committee's  work  for  immigrants 
at  European  ports.  Upon  the  third  errand  I  attended  in  Edin- 
burgh the  memorable  meeting  of  the  third  Decennial  Confer- 
ence of  representatives  of  the  many  foreign  mission  Boards 
of  European  and  American  Protestant  Churches.  Among  the 
thousand  delegates  were  the  leading  Bishops  and  dignitaries 
of  these  churches.  Indeed  it  was  said  of  the  conference  mem- 
bership that  "everybody  was  somebody !"  In  the  thorough  and 
scholarly  preparation  of  the  program  and  equally  in  the  pro- 
ceedings these  churches  sought  and  found  a  satisfying  leader- 
ship, outside  of  their  divisions  in  the  person  of  our  Committee's 
Foreign  Work  Secretary,  John  K.  Mott.  Before  adjournment  a 
very  significant  forward  step  was  taken  by  the  election  of  a 
Continuation  Committee  to  begin  the  union  work  suggested 
during  the  sessions.  For  chairman  of  this  committee  was 
chosen  the  American  International  Secretary  who  had  presided 
so  very  acceptably  over  the  Conference. 

In  the  summer  of  1911  at  Vienna  during  the  World's  Com- 
mittee meeting  there  was  urgent  call  for  an  addition  to  the 
Committee  of   several   members  beyond   the   number  as  yet 


504  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

authorized  by  the  Conferences.  During  the  discussion,  it  ap- 
peared incidentally  that  the  three  General  Secretaries, 
Fermaud,  Phildius,  and  Sautter,  were  voting  members  of  the 
Committee.  This  led  to  an  inquiry  concerning  American  pre- 
cedent and  practice  and  drew  from  me  the  statement — quite 
surprising  to  the  European  members  present — that  I  had 
been  for  forty-one  years  General  Secretary  of  the  Committee, 
but  was  not  a  voting  member,  though  regularly  attending  all 
Committee  meetings.  This  led  the  three  Secretaries  at  the 
next  session  to  offer  their  resignations  as  voting  members. 
The  vacancies  thus  created  were  then  filled  by  the  election  of 
the  additional  members  desired. 

World's  Conference  of  1913 

In  arranging  for  the  World's  Conference  of  1913  there  was 
no  adjustment  of  the  place  and  date  to  the  meeting,  in  that 
year,  of  the  World's  Student  Christian  Federation,  so  that 
delegates  from  countries  distant  from  the  places  of  meeting 
and  belonging  to  both  organizations  might  be  able  to  attend 
both  Conferences.  Hitherto,  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  both 
Conferences,  such  a  desirable  adjustment  had  been  successfully 
made  ever  since  the  formation  in  1895  of  the  Student  Federa- 
tion. But  in  1913  the  Federation  met  in  America  and  the 
World's  Conference  at  Edinburgh.  This  resulted  in  a  smaller 
attendance  at  the  latter  meeting  than  would  otherwise  have 
been  secured. 

It  was  the  first  World's  Conference  since  1872  that  I  was 
unable  to  attend.  The  North  American  Associations  were 
well  represented  by  International  Secretaries — Shipp  and 
Goodman  on  the  Delegates'  Committee.  Secretary  Fisher  of 
our  Physical  Department  so  presented  the  work  of  that  depart- 
ment that  a  favorable  impression  concerning  its  value  and 
importance  was  received,  especially  by  delegates  from  the 
European  Associations.  Secretary  Goodman  brought  an 
equally  strong  message  concerning  the  Bible  Work. 

The  resignation  of  Charles  Fermaud,  the  Committee's  Gen- 
eral Secretary  since  his  appointment  in  1878,  was  reported  and 
in  recognition  of  a  long  and  faithful  service  of  so  many  years 
the  Conference  elected  Colonel  Fermaud  honorary  General 
Secretary  for  life.    General  Secretary  Sautter  had  been  chosen 


NATIONAL  AND  INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONSHIPS        505 

by  the  Committee  to  take  the  position  of  executive  responsi- 
bility which  had  been  occupied  by  Colonel  Fermaud.  In  my 
absence  I  received  the  distinction  of  an  election  as  honorary 
American  Secretary  for  life. 

Since  1913  meetings  of  the  World's  Conference  have  been 
discontinued,  owing  to  the  outbreak  in  Europe  in  1914  of  the 
World  War. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

FIRST  PERIOD  OF  CHAIRMAN  MARLING'S  ADMINIS- 
TRATION, 1911-1915 

Alfred  E.  Marling  for  fifteen  years  had  served  very  efficiently 
both  as  Vice-Chairman  and  active  member  of  the  Executive 
Committee  and  of  many  sub-committees.  During  occasional 
absences  abroad  of  Dr.  Warner  he  had  acted  as  Chairman.  On 
the  latter's  retirement,  in  1910,  he  accepted  an  urgent  election 
to  the  chairmanship  and  Dr.  Warner  consented  to  continue 
on  the  Executive  Committee  as  an  active  member.  His  wise 
counsel  and  helpful  cooperation  ever  since  have  been  cordially 
appreciated  by  his  successor  in  office  and  the  entire  Committee. 

Changes  Following  the  Withdrawal  op  C.  J.  Hicks 

To  the  new  administration,  during  its  first  year  (1911)  a 
most  serious  problem  was  presented  by  the  withdrawal  of 
Secretary  Hicks.  Of  this  event  some  mention  already  has  been 
made.^  Both  the  Chairman  and  ex-Chairman  agreed  with  me 
that  in  this  as  in  some  previous  emergencies  "the  man  of  the 
hour"  for  the  Committee  was  Secretary  Mott,  if  it  were  prac- 
ticable for  him  to  become  General  Secretary.  For  some  of  the 
responsibilities  he  had  been  carrying.  Hicks  himself  had  made 
provision  by  bringing  to  the  Committee's  office  in  October, 
1906,  upon  the  death  of  Office  Secretary  Erskine  Uhl,  a  rarely 
capable  assistant  in  Frederic  B.  Shipp,  who  for  nine  years 
previously  had  been  on  the  staff  as  Railroad  Secretary  for  the 
Southwest.  In  the  business  department  at  once  he  showed 
such  capacity  that  in  1909  he  was  carrying  chief  responsibility 
as  its  Secretary. 

In  that  year  the  Committee's  staff  suffered  one  of  the  most 
disabling  losses  it  ever  sustained,  in  the  death  by  drowning 
at  Silver  Bay  of  Bruno  Hobbs,  who  recently  had  begun  a  lead- 
ership of  the  Field  Department,  full  of  the  brightest  promise. 

'  Pp.  431-4. 

506 


CHAIRMAN  MARLING'S  ADMINISTRATION  507 

As  a  state  committeeman,  for  years  he  had  commanded  the 
confidence  of  Association  leaders.  Qualified  by  this  educative 
experience  in  State  Work,  he  had  been  carefully  chosen  at  the 
suggestion  of  Charles  K.  Ober,  to  carry  out  the  policy  of  the 
Committee  in  relation  to  the  State  organizations  as  defined 
by  the  Convention  of  1904,  and  since  then  fostered  by  the  Com- 
mittee's staff.  His  loss  was  a  blow  to  the  Field  Department 
and  its  development  from  which  we  did  not  recover  until  four 
years  later,  when  that  development  took  the  form,  under  Sec- 
retary Shipp's  able  guidance,  of  the  District  Executive  Secre- 
taryship.2  In  the  meantime,  in  this  emergency  of  1909,  as  an 
immediate  resort,  Shipp  in  addition  to  his  other  responsibilities 
began  to  administer  the  Field  Department. 

When  the  retirement  of  Hicks  seemed  probable,  the  Chair- 
man brought  to  Mott's  attention  our  joint  desire  that  he  should 
undertake  the  General  Secretaryship.  Then  while  the  Chair- 
man was  absent  from  the  country  for  some  weeks,  Mott  went 
over  the  whole  subject  with  me  in  a  frank  and  brotherly  de- 
liberation. 

The  previous  year  at  Edinburgh  the  World  Missionary  Con- 
ference had  made  him  Chairman  of  its  Continuation  Com- 
mittee, and  this  new  responsibility  for  the  present  forbade  any 
immediate  favorable  reply  from  him.  His  first  pressing  obliga- 
tion was  to  complete  a  promised  journey  to  the  Far  East  and 
then  he  would  have  more  light  upon  a  decision  than  now  he 
could  obtain.  But  could  we  afford  to  wait?  Would  it  not  be 
better  to  accept  as  final,  the  negative  decision  that  he  must 
now  give?  Of  course  that  was  a  question  to  which  only  the 
Chairman  and  the  Committee  could  give  final  answer,  but  for 
myself  I  expressed  strong  preference  for  the  alternative  of 
waiting. 

Chairman  Marling  was  willing  to  give  unusual  time  to  the 
work,  in  frequent  consultations  both  in  our  building,  and 
away  from  it.  At  recent  conventions  and  in  other  connections 
he  had  won  the  cordial  confidence  of  the  brotherhood  in  both 
Canada  and  our  own  country.  I  believed  that  in  this  emer- 
gency he  would  increase  both  the  time  and  attention  he  was 
giving  and  also  on  my  part  I  could  take  on  more  than  I  had 
been  carrying,  for  my  constant  effort  for  years  had  been  to 

»P.  512. 


508  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

depute  to  Associate  and  Senior  Secretaries,  each  in  his  depart- 
ment, all  I  could  possibly  get  them  to  carry.  Now  I  felt  strong 
enough  and  eager  to  resume  some  of  these  burdens.  To  the 
Chairman  on  his  return  (in  the  autumn  of  1911)  this  interview 
with  Mott  and  the  three  consultations  with  Hicks  were 
promptly  reported  and  the  conclusions  reached  were  approved 
by  him. 

After  thorough  consideration  it  seemed  best  to  discontinue 
the  oflSce  of  Associate  General  Secretary  for  the  home  work, 
and  to  place  Executive  Secretary  Shipp  under  that  title  at 
the  head  of  a  third  division  of  the  entire  work,  giving  him 
responsibility  for  those  lines  related  to  both  the  home  and 
foreign  fields  or  divisions.  To  the  new  division  thus  created 
were  assigned  the  Publication,  Business,  Finance,  and  Treas- 
urer's Departments  and  Secretary  Shipp's  relation  to  the  Field 
Department  was  continued,  including  oversight  of  the  Panama 
Canal  Zone  work,  and  a  vigilant  relation,  through  the  Field 
Secretaries,  to  the  State  Work.  To  facilitate  this  new  combi- 
nation the  Treasurer's  office  was  removed  from  the  first  to  the 
fifth  floor  of  the  building,  in  close  connection  with  the  offices 
of  the  General  and  Executive  Secretaries.  In  further  aid  of 
this  readjustment  I  was  expected,  as  General  Secretary,  to 
maintain  a  closer  connection  than  ever  with  each  phase  of  this 
overhead  work.  Shipp  was  released  from  many  of  the  details 
of  the  work  he  had  been  carrying  by  the  development  in  experi- 
ence and  ability  of  his  assistant,  J.  Floyd  McTyier,  who  rapidly 
showed  caiiacity  to  bear  first  responsibilities. 

But  another  very  strong  feature  in  this  arrangement,  which 
made  it  practicable,  was  the  consent  of  Chairman  Marling  to 
come  into  a  more  direct  relation  to  major  matters  of  adminis- 
tration, not  only  in  the  sphere  of  Shipp  and  myself,  but  in 
that  of  the  departmental  leaders.  He  set  apart  a  time  in  each 
week  when  he  was  in  the  Committee's  building  accessible  for 
consultation.  This  led  to  his  occasionally  taking  part  in  some 
of  the  more  important  correspondence,  and  letters  from  him 
began  to  be  a  virile  feature  of  that  correspondence. 

For  some  years  a  meeting  of  the  senior  departmental  Sec- 
retaries had  been  held  for  mutual  information,  consultation, 
and  fellowship.  Each  month  they  met  on  the  second  day  be- 
fore the  Committee's  regular  meeting,  and  to  this  secretarial 


CHAIRMAN  MARLING'S  ADMINISTRATION  509 

meeting  a  more  oflScial  character  now  was  given  by  the  Chair- 
man and  the  Executive  Committee.  The  problems  before  the 
Committee  were  deliberated  upon,  and  this  secretarial  confer- 
ence became  an  excellent  advisory  factor  in  the  administration. 

Resignation  Presented,  but  Action  Postponed 

While  these  important  improvements  were  being  introduced, 
at  the  February  (1912)  Committee  meeting,  forty-three  years 
after  I  accepted  office  from  them,  my  formal  resignation  as 
General  Secretary  was  submitted  by  the  Chairman,  with  the 
explanation  that  it  was  submitted  also  by  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee because  of  my  desire  to  open  the  way  for  the  calling  of 
Dr.  Mott  to  this  position.  In  sympathy  with  this  desire  the 
Committee,  without  acting  upon  the  resignation,  authorized  the 
Chairman  to  communicate  officially  to  Dr.  Mott,  then  absent 
in  Europe,  our  united  call  to  him.  His  formal  reply  came  to 
the  meeting  in  March  and  stated  for  record  what  he  had  said 
verbally  to  me  five  months  before,  that  if  his  decision  must  be 
immediate  it  must  be  in  the  negative.  To  postpone  an  answer 
until  after  the  experience  of  the  year  now  before  him — involv- 
ing a  journey  to  the  Far  East  on  behalf  of  the  Continuation 
Committee,  from  which  he  would  return  in  May,  1913 — "might 
bring  a  different  decision."  To  the  Committee,  and  to  all  on 
its  staflf,  it  seemed  best  to  prolong  the  negotiation.  This  feel- 
ing was  strengthened  by  a  wide  consultation  with  Association 
leaders,  who  agreed  with  the  opinion  of  the  Committee.  Ac- 
cordingly no  further  action  was  taken  concerning  my  resigna- 
tion or  the  call  to  Dr.  Mott. 

This  term  of  waiting  became,  in  fact,  a  three-year  period 
before  the  desired  consummation  was  realized.  It  proved  a 
period  of  remarkable  progress  by  the  Committee  and  its  staff, 
in  preparation  for  far  greater  advance  under  the  stronger 
leadership  which  was  waited  for. 

The  progress  achieved  during  these  three  years  (1912-1915) 
was  very  largely  due  to  the  vigilance  and  wisdom  of  Chairman 
Marling,  and  to  the  development  in  Executive  Secretary  Shipp 
of  a  vision  and  capacity  equal  to  the  severe  tasks  connected 
with  the  serious  problems  presented  in  the  Committee's  work 
and  in  its  relation  to  the  whole  movement — local,  State,  and 
Canadian. 


510  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

Accordingly  I  was  able  to  continue  such  deputing  of  official 
responsibilities  as  I  had  practiced  for  many  years.  The  effort 
to  do  this  was  made  easier  by  the  fact  that  in  two  compara- 
tively new  directions  I  was  called  upon  to  expend  a  consider- 
able percentage  of  time  and  strength.  In  the  first  year  of  this 
period  the  completion  of  a  text  book  on  the  History  of  the 
Associations  was  desired.  This  I  completed  much  too 
hurriedly.  In  each  of  the  summers  also,  in  the  usual  vacation 
period,  the  Summer  Schools  challenged  and  secured  from  me 
enthusiastic  cooperation.  I  was  also  asked  to  begin  the 
preparation  of  these  reminiscences,  giving  account  of  my  con- 
nection during  many  years  with  the  work  of  the  Committee  and 
with  the  Associations  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  Macfarland  Commission 

At  the  opening  of  this  second  year  (1912-13)  of  the  Marling 
administration  the  program  of  the  September  conference  of 
the  Committee  and  its  Secretaries  was  prepared  with  special 
care.  To  an  active  member  of  the  Committee,  Commissioner 
Henry  B.  F.  Macfarland,  of  Washington,  was  given  the  topic : 
"Perils  and  Weaknesses  of  the  Work  of  the  Committee."  In 
order  to  present  a  thorough  treatment  of  the  subject  he  sought 
cooperation  and  suggestion  from  his  fellow  members  on  the 
Committee  and  from  many  other  Association  leaders.  State 
and  local.  Replies  and  frank  criticisms  received  by  Chairman 
Macfarland  were  sent  by  him  to  our  office  without  the  names 
of  their  authors  and  these  were  carefully  digested.  Discus- 
sion at  the  conference  was  as  thorough  and  exhaustive  as  had 
been  the  preparation  for  it.  Of  the  criticisms  it  was  note- 
worthy that  those  from  leaders  outside  the  membership  of  the 
Committee,  were  in  every  instance  duplicated  by  some  one  or 
more  of  the  Committee  members.  I  was  reminded  of  Cephas 
Brainerd's  description  or  definition  of  the  Committee's  leader- 
ship during  his  quarter  century  chairmanship !  "That  leader- 
ship has  not  been  due  wholly  to  the  wisdom,  real  or  supposed, 
of  the  individual  members  of  the  Committee.  It  was  due  to 
the  fact  that  through  its  correspondence,  its  Secretaries,  and 
its  friends  all  over  the  laud  the  Committee  sought  to  gain  the 
best  views  of  the  most  efficient  men  in  the  work.  And  when 
this  was  gained  it  was  the  aim  of  the  Committee,  acting  col- 


CHAIRMAN  MARLING'S  ADMINISTRATION  511 

lectively,  to  put  into  effective  cooperation  the  most  advanced 
tliouglit  of  the  wisest  and  most  devoted  leaders.  We  have  not 
had  opinions  and  plans  of  our  own  to  force,  when,  after  care- 
ful consideration  and  frank  conference,  it  appeared  there  were 
better  views  and  better  plans  to  be  adopted." 

The  discussion  resulted  in  the  appointment  of  a  Commission 
of  Committee-members,  with  Macfarland  as  chairman,  to  digest 
and  report  all  the  suggestions  of  change.  Some  of  these  con- 
cerned the  Committee's  relation  to  State  Work — its  develop- 
ment and  efificiency.  To  obtain  further  light  Chairman  Marling 
asked  for  a  conference  with  committee-men  and  Secretaries 
of  the  State  organizations.  In  response  to  his  call,  Secretary 
Shipp  and  I  met  in  Chicago  the  leaders — laymen  and  Secre- 
taries— of  fifteen  State  Committees.  The  deliberation  gave 
light  and  leading  to  the  commission,  which  was  able  in  the 
December  (1912)  Committee  meeting  to  make  a  report  embody- 
ing sixteen  important  recommendations  relating  to  the  pro- 
gram and  proceedings  of  the  next  International  Convention, 
and  to  the  policies  and  administration  of  the  Committee. 

The  Cincinnati  Convention 

The  Convention  was  to  meet  in  six  months  (May,  1913)  at 
Cincinnati,  and  in  the  Committee's  report  to  it,  all  these  recom- 
mendations were  embodied  in  some  of  the  33  recommendations 
contained  in  that  report.  These  were  larger  in  number  and 
more  radical  in  character  than  had  ever  been  submitted  by  the 
Committee  to  any  Convention. 

Also  five  commissions  brought  to  this  Convention  fifty-seven 
recommendations,  besides  the  thirty-three  brought  in  the  Com- 
mittee's report.  These  excited  more  variety  of  discussion  and 
volume  of  action  than  had  characterized  any  preceding  Con- 
vention. The  Committee  strongly  promoted  this  by  printing 
and  for  the  first  time  sending  its  report  to  all  the  Associations 
thirty  days  before  the  meeting. 

New  measures  recommended  by  the  Committee  and  adopted 
by  the  Convention  were : 

1.  The  appointment  of  the  committee  on  the  International 
Committee's  report,  not  as  heretofore  by  the  President,  but  by 
the  representative  committee  on  organization  elected  by  dele- 
gates at  the  opening  of  the  Convention.    At  the  suggestion  of 


512  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

the  Committee,  this  change  was  made  at  Cincinnati  at  the 
opening  of  that  Convention  and  the  committee  on  the  Inter- 
national Committee's  report  to  the  Convention  was  appointed 
in  the  new  manner  proposed  and  was  composed  of  four  lay- 
men and  three  Association  Secretaries. 

2.  Discontinuance  as  voting  delegates  to  the  Convention  of 
members  and  Secretaries  of  the  International  Committee  and 
Secretaries  of  the  State  Committees,  now  numbering  over  300 
on  foreign  and  home  fields. 

3.  Authorization  of  the  Committee  to  increase  its  working 
membership  from  seventy  to  one  hundred. 

4.  Further  to  strengthen  State  Work,  the  authorization  of 
the  Committee,  in  place  of  its  Field  Stafif,  to  appoint  and  locate 
District  Executive  Secretaries  for  the  promotion — under  the 
direction  of  the  Executive  Committee — of  State  Work  on  their 
respective  fields  or  sections. 

5.  Establishment  of  a  Building  Bureau. 

6.  Approval  of  a  relationships  agreement  with  Canada. 

7.  Authorization  of  a  commission  on  Student  Work. 

A  Reorganization  of  the  Convention 

These  and  other  suggestions  initiated  by  the  Macfarland 
Commission  were  heartily  approved  and  adopted  at  Cincinnati. 
The  growing  groups  of  departmental  gatherings  which  had 
been  held  before  and  after  the  Convention,  together  with  the 
departmental  emphasis  apparent  in  the  proceedings,  naturally 
suggested  to  some  Association  leaders  that  in  the  program  of 
succeeding  Conventions  there  should  be  an  adjustment  provid- 
ing for  more  departmental  deliberation. 

In  the  programs  of  some  previous  Conventions,  the  Com- 
mittee had  provided  acceptably  for  a  distribution  of  the  dele- 
gates into  sectional  or  departmental  meetings.  As  early  as 
1872  such  a  distribution  had  taken  place  at  Lowell,  and  the 
Convention  reassembled  to  hear  and  act  upon  report  and 
recommendation  from  each  section.  Similar  deliberation  and 
action  was  provided  for  and  reported  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
Conventions  of  1889, 1891,  1895,  and  1899.  In  the  deliberations 
of  many  State  Conventions,  sessions  of  this  character  had  been 
acceptably  introduced. 

But  now  the  growth  and  ramification  of  the  departmental 


CHAIRMAN  MARLING'S  ADMINISTRATION  513 

life  of  the  movement  called  for  a  treatment  of  the  Interna- 
tional Convention  program  and  a  distribution  of  delegates  for 
departmental  discussion  and  action  far  more  radical  than  here- 
tofore had  been  attempted.  On  their  way  home  from  the  Cin- 
cinnati Convention,  Chairman  Marling  and  Secretary  Shipp 
discussed  the  problem,  and  later  I  called  their  attention  to  the 
precedent  existing  in  the  action  of  previous  Conventions.  More 
emphatically  our  attention  was  given  to  the  recent  experience 
of  "The  General  Secretaries'  Conference"  and  its  transfor- 
mation between  1903  and  1911 — under  departmental  pressure 
— into  "The  Employed  Officers'  Conference"  with  eleven  sec- 
tions and  departments.  Certainly  this  pointed  a  path  for  us 
and  it  was  agreed  that  the  program  of  the  next  Convention 
should  contain  provision  beyond  precedent  in  this  direction. 

A  year  later  a  strong  reenforcement  to  this  endeavor  within 
the  Committee  came  to  us  in  connection  with  the  meeting  of 
the  Employed  Officers  in  1914  at  Lake  Geneva.  There  Robert 
E.  Lewis,  the  Cleveland  General  Secretary,  brought  together 
in  his  tent  a  small  group  of  local  and  supervisory  leaders  and 
opened  a  deliberation  upon  this  problem,  manifesting  a  solici- 
tude on  his  part  for  some  change  in  the  program,  and  a  dis- 
tribution of  delegates  at  the  Convention  similar  to  what  we 
were  planning  and  to  what  then  was  visibly  presented  and 
suggested  by  the  proceedings  of  the  Secretaries'  Conference 
we  were  all  attending.  We  gave  him  our  hearty  sympathy 
and  cooperation.  His  plan  ripened  into  the  radical  change 
and  distribution  of  delegates  into  sections,  accomplished  at  the 
Cleveland  Convention,  1916.  This  change  was  so  in  accord  with 
the  mind  and  plan  of  the  Committee  that  it  could  have  been 
accomplished  without  resort  to  "the  initiative  and  referendum." 
But  this  resort  seemed  best  to  Secretary  Lewis  and  his  asso- 
ciates, and  certainly  a  great  advantage  attaching  to  the  method 
was  that,  before  the  Convention  met,  the  measure  in  its  details 
had  been  placed  more  fully  before  all  the  Associations  than 
otherwise  would  have  been  possible,  and  the  favorable  senti- 
ment of  the  whole  brotherhood  was  given  an  opportunity  of 
expression. 

While  we  were  preparing  these  improvements  in  addition  to 
those  happily  accomplished  at  Cincinnati,  further  progress 
was  made  by  securing,  during  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1913, 


514  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

three  Executive  District  Secretaries  located  at  Chicago,  Nash- 
ville, aud  Denver.  Through  the  wise  agency  and  effort  of 
Secretary  Shipp  each  of  these  Secretaries — George  D.  McDill, 
B.  G.  Alexander,  and  G.  S.  Bilheimer — was,  not  formally  but 
really,  nominated  to  the  Committee  by  the  State  and  local 
Secretaries  of  the  section  or  district  they  were  to  serve. 

Further  Progress  in  the  Committee's  Work 

During  these  two  eventful  years  both  the  Chairman  and 
Secretary  Shipp  had  carried  the  overhead  administration  so 
effectively  that  I  was  able  to  complete  in  1913  the  text  book 
on  Association  History,  and  could  be  given  for  the  first  part 
of  the  year  1914,  a  leave  of  absence  in  Italy  for  the  work  on 
these  reminiscences  which  were  desired  from  me  by  the  Com- 
mittee. 

Meantime  before  the  close  of  1913,  Secretary  Mott  had 
reached  the  conclusion  that  other  obligations  forbade  his  under- 
taking the  General  Secretaryship  and  to  our  January  (1914) 
meeting  the  Executive  Committee  brought  a  report  to  this 
effect.  This  was  published  in  Association  Men  and  expressed 
the  Committee's  thorough  sympathy  with  the  considerations 
prevailing  with  Dr.  Mott.  It  stated  also  that  the  postponement 
of  decision  had  been  due  not  to  him  but  to  the  Committee's 
preference  to  prolong  the  negotiation.  From  this  time  the  term 
"associate"  was  dropped  from  his  title  and  he  became  in  form 
— as  for  years  he  had  been  in  fact — 'General  Secretary  of  the 
Committee  for  its  Foreign  Department  or  division.  At  this 
time  he  assured  me  he  would  continue  in  that  relation  of  help- 
ful consultation  in  regard  to  major  problems  of  the  home  work, 
which  he  had  sustained  during  the  eleven  years  of  our  fellow- 
ship with  Secretary  Hicks,  and  which  he  had  more  recently 
continued  in  important  conferences  with  our  Canadian 
brethren  in  the  forming  of  their  national  organization.^ 

My  resignation,  which  had  lain  upon  the  table,  was  continued 
there  by  the  Committee,  not  because  now  I  was  to  take  on 
more  responsibilities,  for  the  Committee  was  voting  me  a  leave 
of  absence  for  nearly  half  a  year,  but  because  my  consulting 
relation  to  the  ofiice  and  work  was  considered  of  sufficient  im- 
portance  to   justify    this   action.     Meanwhile    the   Business 

«P.  498. 


CHAIRMAN  MARLING'S  ADMINISTRATION  515 

Bureau  was  so  handled  b^^  Executive  Secretary  Shipp,  that  in 
the  years  1914:  and  1915  the  income  of  the  Committee  was  col- 
lected on  '*the  monthly  pay  as  you  go"  plan,  by  which  at  the 
end  of  almost  every  month  of  these  years  all  indebtedness  was 
met.  This  happily  checked  the  undesirable  drift  of  too  many 
payments  into  the  month  of  December. 

In  the  early  summer  of  1914  Secretary  L.  Wilbur  Messer, 
of  Chicago,  returned  from  his  memorable  world  journey  among 
his  fellow  Secretaries  on  the  foreign  field  and  reported  first 
to  the  International  Committee  and  then  to  800  of  his  fellow 
Secretaries,  at  the  Employed  Oflficers'  Conference  (June  26th) 
at  Lake  Geneva,  the  beginning  of  that  program  for  the  exten- 
sion and  support  of  the  Foreign  Work  which  obtained,  under 
his  continued  strong  leadership  and  with  the  expert  coopera- 
tion of  Secretary  E.  T.  Colton,  final  and  enthusiastic  adoption 
by  the  Convention  of  1916. 

At  this  conference  also  the  small  group  of  leaders  called  to- 
gether by  Secretary  Kobert  E.  Lewis  considered  favorably  as 
already  mentioned  the  proposed  reorganization  of  the  next 
International  Convention  and  the  use  of  "the  initiative"  in 
promoting  this  change. 

The  expectation  that  this  Convention  would  meet  on  the 
Pacific  Coast  in  connection  with  the  World  Exposition  there 
in  the  year  1915  was  disappointed,  and  the  meeting  was  held 
in  the  following  year  at  Cleveland. 

The  Canadian  National  Convention  was  to  meet  in  Septem- 
ber, 1914.  In  the  same  month  there  was  promise  of  a  most 
interesting  annual  meeting  of  the  Committee  and  its  staff,  in 
early  forecast  of  the  program  of  the  Convention  of  1916. 

Effect  of  European  War 

But  the  sudden  outbreak  of  the  European  war  (August, 
1914 j  and  the  many  uncertainties  created  by  that  convulsion, 
led  both  the  Canadian  Associations  to  give  up  their  Convention, 
and  the  Committee  to  postpone  its  annual  meeting  with  its 
Secretaries.  Dr.  Mott  was  called  to  Europe  in  October  by  his 
relation  to  the  Continuation  Committee  of  the  Edinburgh  Con- 
ference (1910),  the  World's  Student  Christian  Federation,  and 
our  own  World's  Committee.  He  soon  returned  to  begin  the 
Committee's  Association  War  Work  among  the  millions  of  men 


516  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

under  arms  in  Europe  with  a  special  emphasis  upon  a  blessed 
ministry  to  prisoners  of  war — a  work  destined  speedily  to  out- 
grow in  its  immediate  demands  for  support  in  men  and  money, 
both  the  home  and  foreign  work  of  the  Committee. 

In  1917  the  United  States  entered  heartily  into  the  war. 
Then,  following  its  precedent  in  various  wars,  the  Committee, 
after  a  wide  consultation  with  Association  leaders,  created 
the  National  War  Work  Council,  and  a  vastly  enlarged  and 
unprecedented  work  was  entered  upon,  not  only  among  the  en- 
listed men  of  our  own  army,  but  also  among  the  soldiers  of  our 
allies.  For  the  year  ending  July  1,  1918,  a  first  estimate  called 
for  135,000,000 — a  sum  many  times  greater  than  any  annual 
expenditure  by  the  Committee,  even  during  the  first  years  of 
this  war.  But  before  the  campaign  for  this  large  sum  was 
begun,  it  was  regarded  as  inadequate,  and  over  $51,000,000 
was  sought  and  generously  given. 

This  growth  was  possible  due  to  Dr.  Mott's  masterly  grasp  of 
a  vast  opportunity,  and  to  the  mobilization  of  the  whole  Asso- 
ciation movement,  local.  State,  and  International. 

Before  the  overwhelming  demands  of  the  war  absorbed  the 
attention  of  the  brotherhood,  the  instructions  of  the  Cincinnati 
Convention  were  being  carried  out.  New  members  were  added 
to  the  Committee.  The  Fellowship  Plan  was  made  part  of 
the  Secretarial  Bureau,  and  a  beginning  of  the  Building  Bureau 
was  intrusted  to  Secretary  Charles  Sumner  Ward. 

The  Fry  Commission 

Consultation  with  State  and  local  leaders  was  continued 
and,  as  already  mentioned,  this  had  issued  in  the  choice  of  Dis- 
trict Executive  Secretaries,  who  in  their  turn,  in  promoting 
State  Work  and  departmental  cooperation  by  their  fellow  in- 
ternational Secretaries,  reported  that  there  was  call  for  some 
"realignment  in  our  departmental  organization,"  Of  this  call 
the  Committee  at  its  February  (1915)  meeting  took  serious 
notice,  and  discerned  the  need  of  another  commission  to  con- 
tinue, if  it  could  not  complete,  the  work  so  well  begun  by  the 
Macfarland  Commission  and  followed  up  by  the  Cincinnati 
Convention. 

The  proposed  reorganization  of  the  Convention  of  1916  added 


CHAIRMAN  MARLING'S  ADMINISTRATION  517 

emphasis  to  the  importance  of  some  corresponding  change  in 
the  Committee's  distribution  of  its  work.  Accordingly,  on 
motion  of  Wilfred  W.  Fry,  a  commission  of  nine  members — 
known  since  by  his  name — was  appointed  with  the  mover  as 
chairman.  Four  of  these,  including  Chairman  Fry  and  N.  W. 
Ayer,  had  served  on  the  Macfarland  Commission.  The  same 
progressive  spirit  prevailed  in  their  deliberations  and  the  same 
desire  and  effort  to  learn  thorouglil}^  the  mind  of  the  brother- 
hood through  extended  consultation  by  correspondence  and 
visitation.  In  both  these  lines  Mr.  Fry  took  an  active  part. 
Before  he  became  a  member  of  the  Committee  he  had  served  for 
years  as  one  of  our  leading  City  Secretaries,  first  in  Trenton 
and  then  in  Pittsburgh,  and  his  double  relation  as  layman  and 
ex-Secretary  commanded  wide  confidence  and  confidential  inter- 
course of  great  value.  There  was  a  cordial  recognition  of  what 
had  been  reported  and  accomplished  at  Cincinnati,  and  it  was 
on  the  basis  of  achievement  there  that  a  further  advance  was 
promoted.  After  two  months  of  wide  consultation  the  com- 
mission spent  nine  hours  of  one  day  and  evening  (April  7) 
in  deliberation.  Dr.  Mott  was  present,  as  he  had  not  been  able 
to  be  with  the  Macfarland  Commission. 

His  contribution  to  the  deliberations  was  most  important 
and  for  himself  he  gained  a  more  intimate  grasp  of  the  home 
work  situation,  what  it  called  for,  and  the  practicability  of 
meeting  the  demand  it  made  on  the  Committee.  For  on  that 
day  the  commission  heard  from  every  department  through  the 
Senior  Secretary  of  each. 

Both  the  problems  suggested  by  the  situation  and  the  pro- 
posed solution  of  them  were  now  before  the  commission.  This 
material  needed  careful  sifting  and  arrangement  and  the  com- 
mission adjourned  for  two  months  (April  to  June)  that  this 
might  be  done.  This  invaluable  work  was  accomplished  by 
those  who  had  collaborated  in  our  office  in  preparing  the  re- 
port of  the  Macfarland  Commission.  In  the  report  now 
prepared,  the  activities  of  the  Committee  were  distributed  into 
Departments,  Councils,  and  Bureaus,  and  a  City  Association 
Department  was  provided  for.  The  Senior  Secretaries'  Coun- 
cil was  made  a  Cabinet  to  discuss  each  month  questions  to  be 
submitted  to  the  Committee.  Minor  details  of  administration 
were  also  well  worked  out. 


518  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

During  these  two  months  those  of  us  at  work  on  these 
changes  and  improvements  were  all  agreed  in  desiring  that 
the  carrying  out  of  them  should  be  attempted  under  the  leader- 
ship of  the  strongest  man  on  the  Committee's  staff.  This 
thought  of  reverting  again  to  Dr.  Mott  had  been  from  the  be- 
ginning in  the  mind  of  Chairman  Fry.  He  had  not  taken  part 
in  the  previous  deliberations  with  Dr.  Mott  and  was  there- 
fore undiscouraged  by  them.  But  to  all  of  us  it  was  a  welcome 
renewal  of  endeavor,  for  Shipp  was  not  the  only  one  of  the 
grouj)  who  could  say  with  emphasis:  "For  this  change  I  have 
hoped,  prayed,  and  worked  for  years." 

I  think,  too,  we  were  now  realizing  in  a  vague  way  that 
among  the  many  bouleversements  in  every  sphere  that  the 
great  war  was  occasioning  was  an  enlargement  of  our  work, 
especially  in  the  direction  of  Europe.  We  felt  that  Dr.  Mott's 
world  responsibilities  might  be  so  changed  and  shifted  as  to 
favor  his  undertaking  this  proposed  relation  to  a  work,  wliich 
was  the  home  base  of  all  wise  and  practicable  Association 
extension  by  both  the  Committee  and  the  Student  Federation, 
abroad  as  well  as  at  home. 

For  nine  hours  he  had  sat  with  the  commission  at  their  first 
session  as  an  active  participant,  going  over  all  the  problems 
of  the  home  work  as  they  were  viewed  by  his  fellow  workers 
on  the  home  field,  both  laymen  and  Secretaries.  Perhaps  it 
had  been  for  him  an  enlightenment  not  before  experienced  in 
such  detail. 

Meanwhile  during  this  interval  of  two  months.  Secretary 
Mott  met  at  Asilomar,  California,  in  the  Employed  Officers' 
Conference,  many  of  the  secretarial  leaders  of  the  brotherhood. 
In  personal  fellowship  and  intercourse,  considerations  were 
presented  to  him  that  caused  him  during  his  long  transcon- 
tinental journey  home  to  give  a  thorough,  patient,  prayerful 
review  to  the  entire  problem.  A  conception  was  gained  by 
him,  so  we  learned  afterward,  of  a  conditional  consent  to  what 
his  friends  on  the  commission  desired. 

After  its  recess  of  two  months  the  commission  spent  seven 
hours  in  passing  upon  a  carefully  digested  "realignment"  of 
the  departmental  and  other  features  of  the  Committee's  ad- 
ministration. The  item  in  the  report  upon  which  first  impor- 
tance was  placed  was  the  securing  of  a  General   Secretary 


CHAIRMAN  MARLING'S  ADMINISTRATION  519 

who  should  administer  the  readjustment  and  enlargement  of 
the  work  as  this  had  been  carefully  outlined. 

When  I  asked  a  member  of  the  commission  whether  in  em- 
phasizing this  recommendation  they  had  in  mind  a  man  for  the 
office,  he  replied,  "Yes !"  and  named  Dr.  Mott,  who  was  present. 

I  shall  never  cease  to  recall,  with  a  gratitude  I  cannot  ex- 
press, the  relief  and  joy  with  which  I  listened,  when,  in  repl}' 
to  this  nomination,  instead  of  naming  reasons  why  this  was 
impracticable  he  began  to  name  conditions — some  of  them  very 
difficult  to  fulfil  but  none  of  them  prohibitive — upon  which  he 
thought  he  might  attempt  what  the  Committee  had  sought  from 
him  so  repeatedly  and  with  a  friendly  persistency. 

Doubtless  in  the  providential  program  of  his  life  it  was 
not  until  this  month  of  June,  1915,  that  the  fulness  of  time 
had  come  for  him  to  take  this  step,  and  my  previous  endeavors 
had  been  premature,  but  this  only  deepened  the  feeling  of  re- 
lief, release,  gratitude,  and  satisfaction  experienced  by  me 
on  that  memorable  evening. 

The  other  features  of  the  report  were  passed  upon  in  a  ses- 
sion of  seven  hours,  and  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  Chairman  Fry  submitted  the  report  to  the  June 
Committee  meeting  (1915) .  The  entire  time  of  that  session  was 
devoted  to  the  one  recommendation  relating  to  Dr.  Mott.  He 
was  present  and  made  a  full  statement  of  a  conditional  accept- 
ance of  the  office  which  was  offered  him,  and  to  which  he  was 
giving  prayerful  consideration,  in  consultation  with  the  friends 
associated  with  him  in  other  responsibilities  which  he  must 
continue  to  carry.  After  his  full  frank  statement,  the  Chair- 
man asked  every  one  of  the  members  present  to  express  as 
frankly  his  opinion  regarding  a  renewed  call  by  the  Committee. 
Each  one  in  turn  expressed  a  favorable  opinion,  and  by  a 
heartily  unanimous  vote  the  offer  of  the  office  was  made.  Dr. 
Mott  asked  time  for  further  consultation  and  the  fulfilment  of 
the  conditions — especially  as  to  the  associates  he  would  need. 
A  principal  one  of  these  conditions  was  the  consent  of  National 
Secretary  Fletcher  S.  Brockman,  of  "China,  to  become  his  asso- 
ciate, for  both  Home  and  Foreign  Work — an  appointment  of 
first  importance — ir  order  that  in  unavoidable  occasional 
absences  of  the  General  Secretary  the  office  could  be  efficiently 
administered. 


520  MY  LIFE  WITH  YOUNG  MEN 

John  R.  Mott  Becomes  General  Secretary 

The  Committee  adjourned  and  met  in  the  following  week 
when  the  other  features  of  the  report  were  considered  seriatim, 
slightly  modified  and  adopted.  Secretary  Brockman  was 
chosen  Associate  General  Secretary  for  the  Home  and  Foreign 
Work,  and  very  considerately  I  was  chosen  "Consulting  Gen- 
eral Secretary  for  life."  Dr.  Mott  asked  time  for  consultation 
with  leaders  of  the  churches  and  of  the  missionary  "forces  and 
for  the  fulfilment  of  other  conditions  of  his  acceptance. 

Until  September  I  was  called  away  by  a  summer  school  ap- 
pointment in  the  Pacific  Northwest.  During  this  absence,  on 
August  10th,  Dr.  Mott  accepted  the  call  of  the  Committee  and 
entered  upon  the  General  Secretaryship,  at  once  so  admirably 
discharging  the  duties  of  the  office  that  in  the  following  month 
the  September  meeting  of  the  Committee  and  its  staff,  held  in 
Atlantic  City  was  attended  by  an  unexampled  number  of  both 
Committeemen  and  Secretaries. 

It  was  on  December  1,  1869,  that  I  accepted  the  call  of 
the  Committee  to  become  its  "General  Secretary  and  Editor." 
It  was  therefore  toward  the  close  of  the  47th  year  of  this  con- 
nection that  most  gratefully  I  gave  place  to  a  stronger  suc- 
cessor. 

For  some  years  I  had  deputed  so  much  of  official  responsi- 
bility that  it  seemed  as  if  little  or  none  of  it  was  actually  in 
my  possession.  Now,  however,  I  was  aware  by  its  disappear- 
ance that  a  substantial  residue  had  remained,  and  most  grate- 
fully with  genuine  release  and  relief  entered  upon  the  new  office 
granted  me. 

A  strong  and  adequate  successor  promptly  and  efficiently 
began  to  bring  in  a  new  era  in  the  work  of  the  Committee  and 
of  the  brotherhood  at  home  aud  abroad.  This  era  was  to  be 
the  second  phase  of  Chairman  Marling's  administration.  As 
an  agency  of  the  Church,  in  its  second  half-century  the  Com- 
mittee was  calling  the  great  leader  of  its  work  on  the  foreign 
field  to  the  leadership  of  its  parent  work  at  the  home  base. 
The  work  was  becoming  an  undertaking  more  world-wide  than 
ever  before,  for  Europe  was  entering  into  a  more  intimate  and 
extended  relation  to  the  work  of  the  Committee  and  its  con- 
stituency than  heretofore  we  had  imagined  possible. 


CHAIRMAN  MARLING'S  ADMINISTRATION  521 

The  first  two  years  of  Dr.  Mott's  secretarial  leadership  have 
abundantly  shown  not  only  how  indispensable  to  the  carrying 
out  of  the  Fry  Commission  program  was  his  commanding  lead- 
ership, but  also  how  essential  he  was  to  the  improvement  by 
the  North  American  Associations  of  the  vast  oi)portunity  this 
world  war  has  presented  to  them  of  an  unprecedented  ministry 
to  millions  of  young  men  under  arms. 

The  Consulting  General  Secretary 

The  new  administration  gave  a  generous  interpretation  to 
the  office  and  work  of  the  consulting  General  Secretary.  An 
office  in  the  Committee's  building  was  assigned,  where  he  could 
be  found  for  counsel  by  members  of  the  staff,  and  from  which 
he  is  constantly  invited  to  departmental  committee  meetings. 
Continued  attendance  also  is  invited  upon  the  monthly  meet- 
ings and  deliberations  of  the  Committee,  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee and  of  the  Secretarial  Cabinet,  and  more  recently  of  the 
National  War  Work  Council — privileges  which  I  deeply  ap- 
preciate. The  additional  satisfaction  of  an  active  relation  to 
the  Summer  Schools  and  other  training  agencies  is  also  granted 
me. 

From  the  point  of  view  gained  in  this  new  office,  the  prospect 
of  the  mission,  message,  and  work  of  the  brotherhood  and  its 
Committee  is  so  full  of  the  promise  of  stronger  leadership  and 
wider  and  better  achievement,  that  the  whole  retrospect 
covered  by  these  many  pages  of  reminiscence  takes  on  the  as- 
pect of  a  John-the-Baptist  period — a  half  century  of  forecast 
and  preparation  for  the  coming  of  a  kingdom  of  achievement 
now  near  at  hand,  a  kingdom  sure  of  triumph  less  because  of 
what  has  gone  before  than  of  what  the  future  has  in  it  of  op- 
portunity, personality,  and  power,  human  and  divine. 


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APPENDIX  II 

Summary  Presented  at  Jubilee  Conference,  Buffai«,  1904 

These  fifty  years  of  Association  cooperation  in  North  America  have 
resulted  in  showing  that: 

1.  Federation  and  its  agencies  have  constituted  a  strong  international 
bond  of  fellowship  and  union  of  effort  between  the  Associations;  and 
also 

2.  Have  defined  as  the  Association  objective  a  work  by  young  men 
for  young  men,  maintaining  and  developing  this  objective  by  fostering 

(1)  Each  department  of  this  all-round  work,  physical  and  educational, 
social  and  religious; 

(2)  Leadership  and  control  by  laymen; 

(3)  Training  and  locating  employed  officers; 

(4)  Planning  and  erecting  Association  buildings; 

(5)  Organizing  young  men  of  many  classes  to  seek  each  the  welfare 
of  the  young  men  of  its  own  class. 

(6)  Fellowship  with  a  world  brotherhood 

(a)  Through  a  World's  Conference  and  its  Committee,  and 

(b)  By  planting  in  non-Christian  nations  Associations  with  federa- 
tion agencies  of  their  own. 

3.  While  the  main  objective  has  been  the  growth  of  the  individual 
Associations,  successful  effort  has  been  made  to  increase  the  efficiency 
of  the  federation  agencies  themselves: 

(1)  By  wisely  multiplying  conventions  and  conferences,  state  and 
provincial,  district  and  county,  student  and  railroad,  developing  each 
group,  department  and  branch;  and  by  so  developing  the  state  and  pro- 
vincial organizations  that  the  aggregate  of  their  supervision  now 
exceeds  that  of  the  international  on  its  home  field. 

(2)  By  providing  for  international,  state  and  provincial  work  an 
amount  of  money  aggregating  ten  per  cent  of  the  total  expenditure  for 
Association  work. 

4.  Thus  the  North  American  Associations  in  bearing  one  another's 
burdens — the  strong  bearing  the  infirmities  of  the  weak — have  so  "ful- 
filled the  law  of  Christ"  that  they  are  in  turn  receiving  fulfillment  of 
the  promise  to  those  who  obey  this  commandment  of  brotherly  fellowship. 

These  first  fifty  years  of  Association  federation  have  justified  the 
brightest  hopes  of  the  men  who  came  together  half  a  century  ago  to 
constitute  the  first  convention.  The  good  results  they  prayed  for  have 
been  gradually  realized  in  a  brotherhood  of  Associations  now  stronger, 
more  numerous  and  aggressive  in  all  lines  of  work  for  young  men  than 

523 


524  APPENDIX  II 

ever  before,  and  intelligently  testifying  to  federation  work  as  one  of 
the  most  influential  factors  in  promoting  this  marvelous  progress. 

Differences  of  opinion  about  methods  exist — have  always  existed, 
with  more  or  less  contention.  But  the  spirit  of  unity,  through  the 
divine  presence  and  help,  has  in  every  discussion  steadily  and  invari- 
ably prevailed.  The  achievements  of  the  past  are  secure,  wrought  out 
by  Him  whose  name  the  Association  bears  and  by  whose  blessing  all 
has  been  accomplished.  Invoking  His  continued  favor  and  leadership, 
depending  on  His  forgiving  love  and  the  indwelling  might  of  His  co- 
operation, seeking  that  unity  in  Him  which  alone  brings  unity  with  one 
another,  we  look  forward  to  a  second  half-century  of  federation,  con- 
fident that  its  years  will  witness  an  ever-widening  extension  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ  among  young  men  at  home  and  abroad,  among  all 
classes  and  races,  and  upon  every  continent. 


INDEX 


Church  Basis 
County  Work 
Industrial  Work 
Int.  Comm. 
Int.  Convs. 
Int.  Sees. 
Int.  Work 
Paris  Basis 


Principal  Topics 

Railroad  Work 
Relationships 

City  and  Student 

Int.  and  State 

Lay  and  Sec'I 

Local  and  Supervisory 
Sec'I  Bureau 
Sec'I  Schools 


Sec'I  Training 
Student  Assns. 
Student  Confs. 
Student  Fedn. 
World  Journeys 
World's  Comm. 
World's  Confs. 


Cephas  Brainerd 
Thomas  K.  Cree 
William  E.  Dodge 


Some  Principal  Names 

Morris  K.  Jesup 
Robert  R.  McBurney 
James  McCormick 
John  R.  Mott 


James  Stokes 
Cornelius  Vanderbilt 
Robert  Weidensall 


Abbott,  Lyman,  109,  461,  487. 
Adams,   Frederic,   42. 

,  Thatcher  M.,  60.  61. 

,  Wm..  30,  39,  52,  61,  63,  158. 

Adelaide,  Australia   (1902),  424. 
Africa  : 

South,  extension  to,  427-8. 

darkest,  376. 

northeast,   422. 
Agnew  C.  R.    (1874),  60. 
Agra,  Taj  Mahal   (1902).  422. 
Aiken,    Edwin    E.,    Missionary    China 

1907)     333 
Albert  Hall.  London   (1894),  244. 
Albricias,  Francisco   (1878),   176. 
Aldersgate    St.    Assn.    Rooms,    London 

(1872),  102. 
Alexander,  George,  213. 

.  James  W..  3. 

.  Maitland.  213. 

Allahabad,  India  (1902),  423. 
Allegiance    to    Churches,   see   Evangel- 
ical. 
Allen.  Arn   (1910),  463. 
All-England-Eleven,    344. 
Ailing,  John  W.,  43. 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 

Foreign  Missions.  6,  7. 
— —  history,  critical  period  of,  4. 

Legation  Guard,  Peking,  311. 

Miss'y  Assn.,  402. 

Amherst  College,  64,  332.  335. 
Amsterdam  Univ.  (1889),  371. 
Andersen,  Hans  P..  on  PMeld  Staff,  291  ; 

at   Mt.   Hermon  Conf.,   351 ;  on   For. 

Staff,  433. 
Anderson,    Martin   B..   Rochester   Univ. 

Assn.,    63,    64  ;   Conv.   of   1875.    143, 

330. 
.      Frank     Assn.,      Sec.      Bombay 

(1902),  422. 
Andover  Academy,   12.   23.  26-30. 

Theological   Seminary.  5-8,   14. 

Andr6,  Alfred,  235. 

Anniversary,  N.  Y.  Assn..  323,  328. 

Arabian   Sea    (1902),   422. 

Archbald,    Thomas,     Yale    Assn.     Sec, 

320,   339. 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.   223. 
Armstrong,  Sam'l  H.,  General,  406. 


Army  and  Navy  Work : 

Militia  tent  work,  276. 

In  Spanish  War,  309-12. 

Extension  to   Japanese   army,   433. 

Progress.    451,    476,    521,    see   U.    S. 
Christian  Commission. 
Ashmore,    Dr.    William    (1885),    368. 
Asilomar,  Cal.   (1915),  518. 
Associate  Gen.  Sees.,  see  Int.  Comm. 
Assn.   Exhibits,  see  Exhibits. 

Handbook,   292-3. 

Assn.  Men  and  Men^  490-4. 

Assn.  Monthly,  Editor  and  Publisher 
two  years,  61-68,  73,  77,  79-84,  94, 
109,  4S7-8. 

Movement    a    World    Power,    see 

World  Powers. 

Polity,  see  Polity. 

Assns.,  see  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
Astor,  John  Jacob,   17. 

Athenaeum   Club,   London   (1884),  224. 

Athens   (1892),  281. 

Athletic    League,    Assn.,    see   Fourfold 

Work. 
Atlantic  crossings,  21,  101,  481. 
Auckland,  N.  Zealand   (1902),  426. 
Austen,  Mrs.  Edward,  hostess  of  Topic 

Party,  225. 
Australasian  Assn.   Tour   (1902),   423- 

8. 
Ayer,  N.  W.,  Int.  Comm.  Member,  296, 

517. 


Baldwin,  Bishop,  Bible  Topic  speaker, 
conv.,  1885,  199,  215. 

Ballaugh.  James,  Int.  Comm  Corre- 
sponding Member  Japan,  368. 

Barbour,  Wm.  M.,  Yale  Pastor,  331. 

Barde,  Edward,   Pastor,  105. 

Barnes,  Clifford  W.,  Yale  Assn.  Sec. 
(1890-2).  339. 

Barnum,  Henry  S.,  41.  49. 

Barrows.    Samuel   J.,   148. 

Basis  or  Test,  church,  see  Evangelical. 

Basis  of  1855  at  Paris,  104-5,  385,  501- 
2. 

Basle,  World  Conf.  (1898),  see  World 
Confs. 

Bates  College,  335. 


525 


526 


INDEX 


Beach.  Harlan  P.,  96,  365,  475. 

Beal.  Fannie,  169. 

Beard,  Geo.  M.,  45. 

Beeeher,  Henry  Ward,  25,  33,  34,  39, 

52,    82. 

,  Lyman,  15. 

Beirut;   Syria   (1892),  280. 

Bellows,  Henry  W.,  50. 

Benares,  India   (1902),  423. 

Bergen   (1888),  239. 

Berlin   (1884).  218,  220-2. 

Univ.,  371. 

Bernadotte,  Prince  Oscar,  see  Oscar. 

Bernstorff,  see  von  Bernstorff. 

Bible  class  : 

Shipton's   London    (1872),   102-3. 
George  Williams'    (1876),   159. 

Bible  Societies,  7,  10. 

Bible  Study  and  Work  in  Assn. : 
Among  Indians,  407. 
Convention  topics,  118,   199,  215-17. 
George  Williams'   class,   154. 
Hind   Smith,   1.34-5. 
Moody's   inquiry   room,   118,  122. 
Niagara  Conf.    (1897),  272-3,  321. 
Robert  Orr's  paper,  174. 
Stud.    Assns.,   345-6. 
Topic  Party    (1876-91),  224-27,  277. 

Bicycle,   319  ;   century  run,   322. 

Biennial  Meetings,  see  Int.  Conv.  and 
World's  Comm. 

Billings.  Fredk.,  Mrs.,  298. 

Birks,  William,  499. 

Bishop,   Chas.    W.,   499. 

.  Nathan,  189. 

Blue  Ridge  School,  485-6. 

Boardman,  John  R.,  415. 

Body   Building,   264. 

Boer  War,  311. 

Bombay,    India    (1902),   421-2. 

Bonn  Univ.,   371. 

Bonna,  Frederic,  Member  World  Comm. 
(1878),   175. 

Boomer,  Wm.  B..  331. 

Boston  Assn.  (1851),  23,  211;  Jubilee 
Conv.,  435-40. 

Bostwick,  Jabez,  substantial  supporter 
(1889),    208. 

Bosworth,  Francke  H.,  45. 

Botta's  "History  of  Amer.  Revolution," 
28 

Bowdoin  College    (1883),   335. 

Bowen,   Anthony,   400. 

Bowers,   Phoebe,  315-6. 

Bowery  Branch  N.  Y.  Assn.,  158,  334. 

Bowne,  Jacob  T.,  122 ;  apprentice 
training,  Newburg,  189-90 ;  Histor- 
ical Library,  201  ;  Springfield  School 
and  College,  258. 

Bowne  Historical  Library,  201. 

Boxer  War,  311,  471. 

Boys'  Work,  213  : 
State  Sec,  276. 
Pioneers  and  Int.  Sec,  410-13. 

Brainerd,  Cephas,  Director  N.  Y.  City 
and  Chairman  Int.  Comm.  (1867- 
92).  60,  61,  67,  69  ;  convention  leader, 
77 ;  author  Reports  of  Comm.,  93, 
374  ;  in  correspondence,  address,  in- 
terview, and  conference,  110,  127, 
137,  145.  168.  192,  317,  374,  377, 
439,  446,  448,  254  ;  resignation  1891- 
2,  274 ;  tribute  by  fellow  workers, 
281-7. 

,   Mrs.,   110,   274. 

,  Cephas,  Jr.,  Int.  Comm.  Member, 

290. 

Brandt,  John  B.,  Gen.  Sec,  suggests 
Secretaries'  Conf..  80,  81. 

Brazil,  For.   Work,  379,  433. 


Brick  Church  Chapel,  N.  Y.  city 
(1867),   54;   213. 

British  Assns.,  Early  polity  of,  102 ; 
College  Christian  Union,  300  ;  Nat'l 
Council  and  Comm.,  220;  Stud.  Vol- 
unteer Movement,  373,  see  Stud. 

Broadus,  John  A.,  convention  Bible 
session,  216 ;  chaplain  Univ.  Va., 
330;  at  Northfield  Conf.  (1887), 
355. 

Brockinan,  Fletcher  S.,  Stud.  Sec,  289 ; 
in  the  South,  378;  National  Sec, 
China,  466 ;  Associate  Gen.  Sec, 
519. 

Brookes,  James  H.,  Int.  Conv.  Bible 
Topic   (1877),  216. 

Brown,  Henry  E.,  Int.  Sec.  Colored 
Work  (1879),  402. 

,  Isaac  E.,  veteran  Sec,  122 ;  State 

Sec.    Illinois,   414. 

,    James    M.,    Trustee    N.    Y.    City 

Assn    (1869),   60. 

,   John,   33. 

,  John  Crosby,  N.  Y.  City  Director 

(1869),  60;  worker  in  Moody  Hippo- 
drome meetings    (1876),   158. 

,  Oscar  E.,  Prof.,  "Assn.  a  World 

Power,"  389. 

Brown  Univ.,  at  New  England  Coll. 
Conf.  (1883),  335. 

Brunot,  Felix  R.,  chairman  Pres. 
Grant's  Indian  Commission,   131. 

Budapest,  Hungary   (1911),  503. 

Budge,  Dan'l  A.,  Sec.  Montreal,  122, 
124  ;    Australasian    work,    426. 

Buffalo,   435,   440. 

Jubilee,  see  Jubilee. 

Building.  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Parent  Assn., 
London,  66,  430. 

Buildings,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  pictures  of, 
79;  old  23rd  St.,  N.  Y.,  20,  21.  62, 
66,  67,  253,  326,  411,  455 ;  West 
Side,  N.  Y.,  326,  411;  Philadelphia 
and  Washington,  65  ;  Chicago,  1870, 
66 ;  central,  255-6,  491  ;  Atlanta, 
199 ;  Paris,  235 ;  Geneva,  Switzer- 
land, 239  ;  Osaka,  Japan,  366,  370  ; 
Tokyo,  Japan,  374.  469 ;  Shanghai, 
China,  482 ;  Kyoto,  Japan.  470 ; 
San  Francisco,  65-6,  430,  464 ;  Al- 
bany and  Omaha,  491  ;  Portland, 
Oregon.  465 ;  Student  Yale,  Dwight 
Hall,  237.  333-7 ;  Toronto,  352 ; 
Railroad,  393.  458 ;  Community 
Assn.,  416  ;  Mass.  State  Comm.,  418  ; 
Int.   Comm.,    418-19,   455-61. 

,   Bureau,  see  Int.  Comm. 

Bund,  German-Amer.  Assn.,  see  von 
Schluembach. 

Burder,  Geo.,  6. 

Burford.  Geo.  E.,  first  Assn  Sec  among 
miners    (1886),   395. 

Burnell,  K.  A.,  evangelist   (1872),  116. 

Bushnell,  Horace,  pastor,  24,  25,  52. 

Butterfield,  Mrs.,  bequest  to  Army  and 
Navy  Work,  417. 


Cabinet,  Secretarial,  see  Int.  Comm. 
Cairo.   Egypt   (1892),  278. 
Calcutta,    India    (1902),    423. 
Calhoun,    Charles   K.,    Int.    Field    Sec, 

497 ;   City   Dept.    Sec.   499. 
Cambridge   Band.,   described  by   Studd, 

347-8  ;  suggests  first  Stud.  Volunteer 

tours,  362. 
Campaign,   Sliort  Bldg.  Fund,  by  C.  S. 

Ward.  429. 
Campbell,   Charles  S.,  Yale  Univ  Sec, 

341. 


INDEX 


527 


Canada,  fellowship  with,  495-500. 
Canadian  Friendships,  496. 

Int.    Comm.    members   and   Seca., 

496-7. 

Nafl  Confs.,  1877,  1882,  lOOr..  497. 

Nat'l  organization,  convention  at 

Winnipeg,  council  and  (Jen.  Sec, 
498-9. 

Pacific  Railway,   497. 

Section,  497. 

Tours,  495. 

Canton,   China    (1907),   466. 

Carlisle  Indian  School    (1894),  407. 

Carlton  Club,  London  (1884),  224. 

Carter.  Edward  C,  Int.  Comm.  For. 
Sec.  India  and  Home  Stud.  Sec,  360. 

Gary.  Richard   (1789),  12. 

Cassatt,  A.  J.,  pres.  I'enn.  R.  R.  and 
friend  of   R.   R.    work,  399. 

Catechism,  Shorter,  19. 

Catlin,  Arnold  W.,  45. 

Centenary  Conf.,  China,  see  China 
Centenary. 

Century   Run.   319. 

Cerography,  12. 

Chamberlain,  Daniel  Henry,  43,  401. 

,  Geo.  W.,  Missionary  S.  America, 

at   Northfleld   Conf.    (1887),   365. 

,    Jacob    S.,    Missionary    India,    at 

NoTthfield  Conf.  (1887),  Plea  for 
For.  Assn.   Work,  365.  368-9,   375. 

,  Wm.  I.,  Int.  Comm.  correspond- 
ing member  for  India,  369. 

Chamberlin,  H.  B.,  Gen.  Sec,  122 ; 
delegate  to  World  Conf.  (1878),  173. 

Changsha,  China  (1907),  475. 

Chapman.   Robert  F.,  45. 

Charles  I's  Death  W'arrant,  224. 

Chefoo.   China   (1907),  476. 

Chesapeake  &  Ohio  R.  R.,  394. 

Chesterfield,    Lord,    letters   of,    3. 

Chicago  Assn..  visited  (1870).  66;  D. 
L.  Moody,  pres.  and  evangelist.  72  ; 
first  parlor  conf.,  151  ;  at  Int.  Conv. 
of  1883,  190-1 ;  problems  and  prog- 
ress  (1870-88).  254-8. 

College,  see  Secretarial  Training. 

China  centenary    (1907),  464,  471-5. 

Inland  Mission,  347. 

Chinese  Nat'l  Assn,  Conf.  (1907), 
466. 

Chism,  Murray.  Yale  Sec,  342. 

Christian  Colleges  at  Beirut  and  Con- 
stantinople   (1892),  280-1. 

Christian  Commission,  see  U.  S.  Chris- 
tian Comm. 

Christiania— World  Conf.  (1902),  see 
World  Conf. 

Christlichcr  Vcrein  Junger  Manner, 
Berlin,  Germany,  an  Assn.  formed 
1883  on  Amer.  plan,  103,  183,  200, 
218  :  its  influence  beyond  Germany, 
221,  237,  248. 

Church  Basis  and  Allegiance,  see  Evan- 
gelical Ch.   Basis. 

Church,  Ref.  Dutch  Owasco  Outlet, 
49. 

of  Christ  in  China   (1907),  472- 

3. 

Cincinnati   Int.  Conv.   (1913),  511-3. 
City  Assn.  Work,  two  types,  192-3. 
Development,  251-74.  342-3. 

Dept.    of    Int.    Comm.,    see    Int. 

Comm. 

City  and  Stud.  Assn.  movements,  rela- 
tion to  one  another.  193,  330-1,  342- 
3  :  to  chhs.,  213.  371-2  :  to  extension 
of  Stud.  Work,  379-89,  473. 

City  Missions,  founder  of  in  N.  Y.  and 
Boston,  13-4. 


Civil  War,  outbreak,  32 ;  Sanitary  and 
Christian  Commissions,  48 ;  George 
H.  Stuart,  chairman,  74  ;  record  of 
Harrisburg  Assn.,  130. 

Clark,  Myron  A..  Senior  For.  Sec  to 
South  America,  378,  433. 

Classes  of  young  men,  outreach  to, 
193,  see  Stud..  R.  R.,  German  Amer., 
Industrial,  Colored,  Indian.  Army 
and  Navy,  County,  Boys'.  Foreign, 
and  Departmental  emphasis. 

Claverack,  N.   Y.,  16. 

Claxton,  T.  James,  Canadian  member 
Int.    Comm.,    496. 

Clay,  Henry,  18. 

Clinton,  DeWitt,  Governor,  7. 

Clubhouse  and  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  contrasted, 
398-400,  see  R.  R.  Work. 

Cobb.  Geo.  W.,  first  R.  R.  Sec,  114, 
118,  121. 

,  Oscar,  committee  member  of  Buf- 
falo of  1854  and  1904.  442. 

Cochran,  Thos.,  vice-chairman  Int. 
Comm.,  377. 

Coe,   Edward   B.,  41. 

Coffin,  Henry  Sloane,  Yale  Assn.  pres., 
339. 

Colby.  Chas.  B.,   Int.  Conv.  pres..  186. 

Univ.   (1883),  335. 

Colgate.   Gilbert,   Int.   Comm.   Trustee, 

97,  173. 

,  Henry  A.,  97. 

,    Richard    M.,    96 ;    member    Int. 

Comm.,  96  ;  on  sub-comms.,  192,  290, 

320. 
,   Samuel    (1),   charter  member  N. 

Y.   Assn.,   59. 
,   Mrs.   Samuel,   a  "Mother-sister," 

18,  22  :  Topic  Party,  225. 

,  Samuel   (2),  320. 

— — ,  Sidney  M.,  173. 

College      Assns.      and      Intercollegiate 

Work,  see  Stud. 
,    Class    of    '62,    meeting    of    '97, 

320-1. 

,  Confs.,  see  Stud. 

,  Life    of    R.    C.    M.    at    Yale,    31- 

47. 

,  Northeastern,  see  Northeastern. 

Colleges,   Y.   M.   C.   A.,  see   Springfield 

and  Chicago. 
Colombo,    Ceylon    (1902),    423. 
Colored  Assn.  Work,  160,  400-4. 
Colton,   Ethan  T.,   Int.   Stud,  and  For. 

Work  Sec.  433,  515. 
Committees,  see  Int.,  State,  Stud.,  Col- 
lege,   National. 
Comm.  of  Twenty-one  on  Int.  and  State 

Work  relations,  445-6. 
Conchiching  Lake  Continuation  School, 

Canada,  485-6. 
Conferences,  see  Int.,  State,  Stud.,  Col- 
lege,  National. 
Congregationalist,   The,  see  Recorder. 
Constantinople    (1892),   281. 
Continent,  The,  Chicago,  490. 
Continuation  Comm.,  Edinburgh  Conf., 

473,  503,  507,  509,  515. 

Comm.  of  China,  473. 

Sec'l  Schools,  Lake  Geneva,  Silver 

Bay,  etc,  483-7. 

Controversy  of  1904,  Int.  and  State 
Work,  441,  443-55. 

Conventions,  see  Int.,  State,  Provin- 
cial,  World. 

Cook,  Paul.  Pastor,  105,  146. 

Cook's  Tourist  Agency,  173. 

Cooper  Institute,  address  of  Lincoln, 
34. 

Copenhagen  Univ.    (1889),  371. 


528 


INDEX 


Cornell  Univ.  Assn.,  J.  R.  Mott,  pres. 
and  delegate  to  Mt.   Hermon,  351. 

Corporation  of  City  of  London  and  Sir 
George  Williams,  245. 

Corresponding  Members  of  Int.  Comm., 
call  State  and  I'rovineial  Convs., 
111-2,  annual  reports,  111 ;  foreign, 
367-8,   374. 

Coulter,  J.  M.,  plea  for  Int.  Comm. 
permanent  fund,  418. 

County    and     Rural    Work,    pioneered 
by   R.   Weidensall,   292. 
"Soldiers  of  the  Soil."  312. 
Sec'ship,    local,    State,    Int.,    414-15. 

Cox,  Charles  F.,  Railroad  member  Int. 
Comm.,   2U1. 

,  Samuel  Hanson,  10. 

Coxhead.  Geo.  T.,  veteran  Sec.  R.  R., 
City,    Int.,    122. 

Cree,  Thomas  K.,  Gen.  Sec.  Pittsburg, 
71,  76,  83  ;  Sec.  Indian  Commission 
and  Int.  visitor  at  South,  112,  137- 
8,  141,  200 ;  at  Sees.  Confs.,  124 
Int.  Parlor  Conf.,  131  ;  becomes  Int 
Sec.  (1876),  153-4;  self-denying 
157  ;  proficient  in  locating  Gen.  Sees. 
171,  180  ;  as  described  by  Robt.  Mc 
Burney,  181  ;  and  in  Int.  Comm 
Report  (1883),  188;  Sec.  of  Moody's 
Chicago  campaign,  190 ;  leader  in 
World's  Conf.,  219,  242  ;  member  of 
Bible  Topic  Party,  225 ;  acceptable 
Sec.  in  Paris,  France,  235  ;  helper  of 
The  Watchman,  489. 

Crisis,  financial,  see  Financial. 

Cromwell,   Oliver,   224. 

Crosby,  Howard,  as  convention  speaker, 
56  ;  pastor,  213. 

,  James  H.,  41. 

Crossley  Hall,  Mt.  Hermon  (1885-6), 
350. 

Cuchet,  Henri,  member  of  World's 
Comm.    (1878),    175. 

Cufifee,  Paul,  7. 

Cuyler,  Theodore  L.,  and  Thane  Miller, 
75 ;  preeminent  delegate  at  Jubilee 
Conf.  (1894),  245-6;  tribute  to 
Cephas  Brainard,  282 ;  to  George 
Williams.   461. 

,    T.    DeWitt.    chairman    Comm.   on 

Int.   Comm.'s  Report    (1889),   375. 

Czar  of  Russia,  interview  (1907),  477- 
9. 

Daily  Meetings,  see  Prayer-meeting. 
Dairen,  Manchuria   (1907),  476. 
Dakota,   Steamer   (1907),  465. 

Univ.    (1892),  270. 

Damascus,   Syria   (1892),  279. 
Dana,  James  D.,  46. 
Darjeeling,  India  (1902),  423. 
Darling,   Timothy   G.,   50,   51. 
Darlington,    Mrs.,    treasurer    Women's 

Auxiliary,  417. 
Dartmouth   Coll.,   delegates  at  first   N. 

England    Coll.    Conf.     (1883),    335; 

at  Mt.  Hermon  Conf.  (1886),  351. 
Davenport,    W.   R..   at  first   Ilarrisburg 

Parlor   Conf.,   130-1. 
Davis,  Ozora,  delegate  to  Mt.  Hermon 

Conf.,   351. 
,    Sarah   Louisa,   Mother  of  R.   C. 

M.,  16,  22. 

,  William,  16. 

Day  of  Prayer  at  Princeton,  1876,  161. 

Day,  Melville  C,  42. 

Dayton  Y.   M.  C.   A.,  educational  work 

under  Sec.  Sinclair,  270. 
DeForest,    Robert  W.,  and   Int.   Comm. 

Building,  459. 


Delhi,   India   (1902),  422. 

Deming,  M.  R.,  Gen.  Sec.  Boston  Assn.. 
264. 

Dennis,  James  S.,  50. 

Departmental  Emphasis,  on  fourfold 
work,  263-73  ;  on  Int.  Work,  288-91, 
297-S;    added   depts.,   429-30,   452. 

Devereux,  James  li.,  first  R.  R.  pres. 
promoting  R.  R.  Assn.  Work,  113, 
152,  390  ;  a  serious  experiment  sur- 
vived, 392,  399. 

Diamond  Jubilee  of  Evl.  Alliance,  481. 

Dill,  Arthur  C,  leader  Yale  Christian 
Social   Union,  332. 

Dimsdale,  Alderman,  London,  tribute 
to  Geo.  Williams,  245. 

Dinners,    Int.,   see   Int.    Comm. 

Discretion  given  to  Int.  Comm.,  by 
Conv.,  94. 

Acted  upon  in  Spanish  War,  309-11. 
In   For.   Work,   373-5. 
In  World  War,  515-16. 

Discoverers  of  Secretaries,  George  A. 
Hall,  140;   Charles  K.  Ober,  263. 

District  Exec.   Sees.,  see  Int.  Comm. 

Doddridge's  "Rise  and  Progress,"  29. 

Dodge,  Cleveland  H.,  a  I'rinceton  under- 
graduate promoter  of  intercollegiate 
Assn.  movement,  162 ;  on  Int.  sub- 
comm.  on  Student  Work,  192,  289 ; 
withdraws  to  Advisory  Board,  294- 
5 ;  returns  to  Stud.  Comm.  chair- 
manship aud  whole  Int.  Work,  304  ; 
friendship  for  R.  C.  M.,  298,  463; 
joins  in  calling  Mt.  Hermon  Stud. 
Conf.,  355,  and  Mott  as  Stud.  Sec, 
357 ;  gives  half  the  Race  Relation- 
ship fund  for  five  years,  403  ;  to  the 
million  dollar  fund,  421  ;  and  the 
third  San  Francisco  bldg.  fund,  430. 

,    D.    Stuart,    Yale  graduate    1857, 

treasurer  Yale  Assn.  graduate  comm. 
(1883),  335,  340. 

,   Grace   H.,   preeminent    leader   of 

Y.  W.  C.  A.  movement,  231  ;  unites 
two  branches  of  movement,  456 ; 
helpful  connection  with  procuring 
Int.   Com.    bldg.    (1906-8).    450-60. 

,  Marcellus  H.,  head  of  Industrial 

Dept.,  296 ;  its  new  departure 
(1906),  397. 

,  Wm.  B.,  presides  at  Hippo- 
drome Meetings  of  Moody  and  San- 
key  (1873),  156;  makes  first  bequest 
to  Int.  Comm.    (1883).  186. 

,  Wm.  B.,  Jr.,  Sunday  school  su- 
perintendent, 47  ;  pres.  of  N.  Y. 
Assn.  (1867),  56-7;  donor  of  largest 
contribution  to  "old  23rd  St  bldg.," 
59 ;  strongly  identified  with  Int. 
Comm.,  61-2  ;  adds  "physical"  to 
definition  of  Assn.  Work,  67  ;  pres. 
Int.  Convs.  (1869,  1901),  60.  439; 
member  Int.  Comm.,  141-2  ;  presides 
at  Baltimore  I'arlor  Conf.,  151  ; 
leader  in  Student  Work,  162  ;  helps 
plant  work  on  I'acific  coast,  180  ; 
tribute  to  Chairman  Brainerd,  282- 
3 ;  to  R.  R.  McBurney,  325-6 ;  sug- 
gests first  world  journey  of  R.  C.  M.. 
421  ;  first  of  substantial  supporters 
of  Int.  Work,  giving  to  current  ex- 
penses, 139,  206,  208 ;  to  million- 
dollar  fund,  420-1. 

,   Wm.   E..   Jr.,   Mrs.   gives   site  of 

Int.  Comm.  bldg.,  417,  456-8;  to 
fund  for  third  San  Francisco  build- 
ing, 430. 

Doggett,  Lawrence  L.,  pres.  of  Spring- 
field School  and  College,  260. 


INDEX 


529 


Donors   and  Gifts  to   Int.   Work,   205- 

10. 
Dorian    Luc,    member    for    France    of 

World's  Comm.    (1878).   176. 
Douglas,  Stephen,  U.  S.  Senator  (1854- 

5),  24.  34. 
,   Walter  C,  a  veteran  Gen.   Sec, 

122 ;    two    out    of    many    influential 

convention   addresses,    437,   449. 
Drummond,      Henry.      "Tlje      Greatest 

Tiling     in     the     World,"     Northfleld 

Conf.    (1887),  300;  other  influential 

messages    to    N.    American    colleges, 

355,  360. 
Dudley,     Sumner    F.,     a    Boy's    Work 

veteran,    in    State    and    local    work, 

412-13.  276. 
Dumb-bell   Drill,  Roberts',  27.  263-4. 
Dwight    Hall,   building  of  Yale  Assn., 

237,  333-8. 
Dwight,  Timothy    (1),  pres.   Yale  Col- 
lege   (1795-1817),   5,    14,    336. 
.     Timothy     (2).     46.     Yale    pres. 

(1886-99),     dedication     address     in 

Dwight  Hall   (1886),  338. 
Dyer,     Chas    E.,    Gen.     Sec,    Detroit 

(1880),  122,  189. 


East,  Near  East,  Far-Eastern  Wk.,  by 

U.    S.   and   Canadian   Assns.    united, 

496. 
Eastern  Assn.  School,  Silver  Bay,  484- 

5. 
Easthampton,  L.  I.,  Presbyterian  Chh. 

(1863  and  1867),  48,  50. 
Eastman,  Chas.  A.,  first  Int.  Comm.  In- 
dian Sec,  404-9. 
Eato,   E.   V.   C,   pres.    Negro   Assn.,   N. 

Y.   city    (1866-7),   delegate  to   State 

and  Int.   Convs.,   400. 
Eckhoff,  M.  Luther,  member  from  Nor- 
way   World    Stud.    Christian    Fedn. 

Comm.,  385. 
Eddy,   G.    Sherwood,    Int.   For.   Sec.    in 

India,    379  ;    Natl.     Sec.    for    India, 

Assoc.  Gen.   Sec.  For  Wk.,  433. 
Educational  classes  and  work,  268-71, 

see   Fourfold   Work. 
Edward     VII,     as     Prince     of     Wales 

(1872),     9.0;     in     House    of    Lords 

(1884),  223,  439. 
Edwards,  Richard  H.,  Yale  Assn.,  first 

Yale  Univ.  Sec,  340. 
Egypt   and   Palestine    (1893).   277-81. 
Egyptian  Hall,  London,  World's  Conf. 

(1881),  220. 
Eidenbeuz,    Herman,    member    of    first 

World's  Comm.  (1878),  175-6.  237. 
Eisenach,  Germany,  World  Stud.  Chris- 
tian  Federation   meeting  at    (1898), 

314.  384. 
Eldredge,    J.    L.,    veteran    Int.    Conv. 

delegate  at  Buffalo,  1854  and  1904. 
Eliot,  George,  38. 
Ellicott,    Bishop,    223-4 ;    in    House    of 

Lords   and   Athenaeum   Club    (1884), 

223-4. 
Elsasser,  Sec  Stuttgart,  Assn.  Jubilee 

(1911),   184. 
Ely,   Chas  W.,  45. 
Emory     and     Henry     Coll.     Assn.,    see 

Stud.   Assns. 
Emperor  of  Germany  (1901),  Wilhelm 

II,  439. 

of  Japan   (1907),  471. 

of  Korea  at  Seoul  (1907),  an  in- 
terview.  465. 

Louis  Napoleon,  23. 

Napoleon  First,  29. 


Emperor,  Russian  (1907),  an  Inter- 
view, 477-79,  482. 

I'^mployed  Officers,  see  Gen.  Sees,  and 
Sees. 

Empress  of  Russia   (1907),  478. 

,    Dowager    of    Russia    (1907),    an 

interview.    479-80,    482. 

Episcopal   ecclesiastical   system,   251-2. 

Escot,   England    (1881),  220. 

Estes  I'ark  Continuation  School,  485-6. 

European  and  World  Tours,  101,  see 
World  Confs.  and  World  Tours. 

Evangelical   Alliance,   10,   16,   126. 

Chh.    Test   or    Basis,   adopted    by 

Portland  Conv.  (1869),  60;  com- 
pletely adopted  by  Assns.  (1883), 
193  ;  growing  allegiance  to  chhs.  and 
fourfold  work,  211-12;  churchly  loy- 
alty in  Stud.  Volunteer  Movement 
and  Boys'  Work,  213  ;  in  For.  Edu- 
cation Comm.  and  Int.  For.  Assn. 
Work.    366-9,    375-6,   462. 

Diamond   Jubilee,   481. 

Evarts.  Jeremiah,  5. 

,  Wm.  M.,  282. 

Eventful  Year  '98,  (1)  Spanish  War 
and  Army  and  Navy  Work,  309-11  ; 
Militia  Tent  State  Work,  309;  (2) 
World  Conf.,  Basle,  Switzd.  ;  (3) 
World  Stud.  Christian  Fedn.,  Eise- 
nach, Germany,  311-14;  (4)  New 
Int.  Comm.  and  Gen.  Sec.  Offices ; 
(5)  on  the  bicycle  and  other  activi- 
ties, 314-23;  (6)  McBurney's  last 
sickness   and   Tower   Room,   323-28. 

Exec.  Dist  Sec,  see  District. 

Exeter  Hall,  London,  becomes  Assn. 
bldg.,   218. 

Exhibits,  Assn.,  World's  Exposition 
(1876),  159;  Int.  Conv.  (1893  and 
1901),  291,  439-40. 


Fanning  Island,  Pacific  Ocean  (1902), 
423. 

Farewell  of  George  Williams,  Paris 
Jubilee    World's    Conf.    (1905),    502. 

Farwell,  John  V..  pres.  Chicago  Assn., 
parlor  conf.,  Chicago  (1876),  151  ; 
Moody  and  Sankey  Hymn-Book 
Fund,  157. 

,  John  v..  Jr..  a  leading  Director, 

Chicago  Assn.,  1901  ;  fellowship  with 
J.  L.  Houghteling  and  C.  H.  McCor- 
mick,  254-5  ;  pres.  of  Chicago  Assn. 
(1884-94),   258,   352. 

Faunce,  W.  H.  P.,  conv.  Bible  topic 
speaker,  1895  ;  Northfleld  Conf.,  359. 

Federation,  see  Fifty  Years  of. 

Federation  Comm.,  see  World  Stud. 
Christian  Fed. 

Fellowship  Plan  of  C.  K.  Ober,  263, 
462,    485,    516. 

with  the  South,  144,  see  South- 
ern  Tours. 

Fermaud,  Chas.,  Gen.  Sec  World's 
Comm.  (elected,  1878),  174-7; 
World's  Comm.  meeting  (1886), 
Conf.  (1888).  236-42;  our  guest, 
317,  439  ;  hon.  Sec  for  life,  504-5. 

Ferry,  John,  first  Yale  Sec  Scientific 
School,  340. 

Field,  Cyrus  W.,  and  Cornelius  Van- 
derbilt,  153. 

Field  Dept.,  the  beginning,  Robt.  Wei- 
densall  (1868),  84;  gradually  de- 
veloped by  T.  K.  Cree  and  C.  K. 
Ober,  200.  203.  290-1.  378 ;  loss  of 
Bruno  Hobbs,  F.  B.  Shipp  and  the 
District   Sees.,  506-7. 


530 


INDEX 


Fifty  Years  of  Fedn.   (1904),  442. 
Financial    crises,    (1)    after  Civil    War 

(1873-8),    emergency    effort.    127-34; 

recovery,  143,  150-1,  154,  156-7  ;   (2) 

of  1892-7,  Int.  State,  and  local  work 

affected,  276-7. 

limitations  of  work,  452. 

short  campaign  method  by  Chas. 

L.   Ward,   429-30. 

support    and    donors,    James    Mc- 

Cormick  and  parlor  confs.,  128-39 ; 
help  of  D.  L.  Moody  and  others,  156- 
7,  179,  191  ;  fuller  account  of  donors 
and  gifts,  204-10. 

Finley,  Samuel,  pres.  Princeton  Col- 
lege, 6. 

Finney,  Chas.  G.,  evangelist  and  edu- 
cator, 359,  402. 

Fisher,  Galen  M.,  Int.  For.  Sec.  and 
Nat'l  Sec,  Japan,  379,  433,  465,  468. 

■ — I — ,  Geo.  J.,  Int.  Sec,  Physical 
Dept.,  267-8 ;  World  Conf.  delegate 
(1913),    504. 

,   Geo.    P.,   professor   at   Yale,    39, 

46,  52,  345. 

,    Samuel    H.,    treas.    Yale    Assn. 

Graduate  Comm.,  340. 

Football  experience  at  Andover  (1855- 
8),  27. 

Foreign  Assn,   Wk.,   see   Int.   For.   Wk. 

Foreign  Education  Comm.,  Elbert  B. 
Monroe,  chairman,  R.  C.  M.  Sec, 
367-8. 

Forman,  John  N.,  and  R.  P.  Wilder, 
beginning  of  Stud.  Volunteer  Move- 
ment, 364-5. 

Fortieth   Anniversary  R.   C.    M.'s.   463. 

Foss,  Cyrus  D.,  Bishop,  promoting 
Methodist  Chh.  union  in  Japan 
(1907),  471. 

Fourfold  Assn.  Wk.,  (1)  as  a  unit, 
66,  67,  77,  78 ;  in  a  World  Conf. 
(1878),  176-7;  in  Chicago,  191;  (2) 
Assn.  a  pioneer  in  social  service,  67, 
78;  (3)  physical,  personal  touch, 
27,  36-8,  67  ;  Assn.  physical  dept. 
growth,  Roberts,  Gulick,  and  Fisher, 
leaders,  263-8 ;  (4)  educational  be- 
ginnings, Hague,  McBurney,  Sin- 
clair, 268-70 ;  F.  B.  Pratt,  Geo.  B. 
Hodge,  Wm.  Orr,  F.  P.  Speare,  269- 
71,  290;  (5)  religious,  specializa- 
tion delayed,  271  ;  Bible  work  em- 
phasized, 215-17,  272 ;  special  Re- 
ligious Work  Dept.,  272-3. 

Fowler,  Henry,  Prof.,  Gen.  Sec.  Yale 
Assn.    (1892-4),   339. 

Frazer,  Donald,  first  Sec.  of  British 
Stud.  Volunteer  and  Christian  Move- 
ments, 300. 

Freedom  of  City  of  London  conferred 
on  Sir  Geo.  Williams,  245. 

Fries,  Karl,  Gen.  Sec,  Stockholm,  and 
Nat'l  Sec  Swedish  Assns.  (1888), 
242,  248 ;  first  chairman  World's 
Stud.  Christian  Fedn.  (1895-1907), 
S80    SS*^    *^85 

Fry,  Wilfrid  w!.  Gen.  Sec.  at  Trenton 
and  Pittsburg,  296  ;  member  of  Int. 
Comm.,  chairman  of  Boys'  Comm. 
and    Fry    Commission.    296,    516-20. 

Fuller,  Newton,  Connecticut  corre- 
sponding member  of  Int.  Comm. 
(1872),  85. 

Fulton,  A.  A.,  missionary,  Canton, 
China  (1907),  466. 


Galley,    Robert,    Int.    For.    Sec,    Tien- 
tsin and  Peking,  379,  476. 


Gardner,  Geo.  S.,  friend  of  Lumber- 
men's Industrial  Assn.  Work,  399. 

Garrett,  John  W.,  pres.  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  R.  R.,  friend  of  R.  R.  Work, 
391. 

Gatchina  Palace,  Russia,  Interview 
Empress  Dowager  and  Grand  Duke 
Michael.  479,  482. 

Gates,  Cecil  L..  Int.  Sec.  in  R.  R. 
Work  (1887-9),  392-3,  in  Field  Work 
at  South   (1893),  291. 

,  M.  Edward,  undergraduate  pres. 

Rochester  Univ.  Assn.    (1870),  63. 

Gaylord,  Franklin,  pioneer  For.  Assn. 
Sec,  begins  in  Paris  (1887),  233-6; 
transferred  to  St.  Petersburg  (Pet- 
rograd)  (1899-1917),  236,  24S;  ex- 
tension of  work  to  all  cities  of  Rus- 
sia allowed.   464,   479-82. 

Gebhard,  Gabriel,  Dominie,  from  Wall- 
dorf,  Baden,  Heidelberg  and  Ut- 
recht, Holland  Univs.,  New  York 
city  and  Claverack,   16. 

Geisendorf,  Sec,  Paris  and  Marseilles 
Assns.,   France    (1902),   422. 

Gen.  Sees,  or  Employed  Officers,  Conf. 
N.  Amer.  (formed,  1871),  80-1; 
second  meeting,  Lowell  (1872),  119; 
third  meeting,  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y., 
first  four  days  session,  119-20  ;  other 
meetings  and  their  influences,  120- 
22  ;  pamphlet  reports  of  second  and 
third  meetings,  121-2  ;  at  third  meet- 
ing, Dayton,  1874  a  first  guest,  W. 
H.  Smith,  Sec,  Manchester,  Eng., 
Assn.  on  Bible  Topic,  134-6,  147  ; 
a  second  guest,  1879,  Chas.  Fer- 
maud.  Gen.  Sec  World's  Comm., 
176  ;  Conf.  of  1887  on  Pacific  coast, 
202  ;  London  Sec.  Kennedy  and  Ber- 
lin Sec,  Phildius.  guests  at  Conf. 
1885,  222 ;  Topic  Party's  relation 
to  Sees.  Conf.,  227  ;  first  Physical 
Dept.  Sees,  come  to  Conf.  of  1888, 
263-4  ;  change  of  name  and  organiza- 
tion to  "Employed  Officers'  Conf." 
(1903-11),  513,  515;  Conf.  of  1915, 
Asilomar,  Cal.,  518. 

Gen.    Sees.    Conf.    European,    500. 

Sees.  Ins.  Alliance,  496,  see  also 

Sec'l  Training. 

Geneva  Lake,  Wis.,  Western  Sec'l  In- 
stitute, School  and  College,  262,  483- 
6. 

,   Switzerland,  Assn.  bldg.,  238. 

Geography,  Amer.,  father  of,  3. 

German  Amer.  Assn.,  Nat'l  Bund,  134, 
137-8',   182-4,  see  von   Schluembach. 

Gibraltar   (1902),  421. 

Gilman,  Daniel  C,  pres.  Univ.  of  Cal. 
and  Johns  Hopkins  Univ.,  39. 

Gladstone,  Thos.  H.,  Prof.  London 
Parent  Assn.,  delegate  to  World's 
Conf.    1872,   105. 

,   Wm.   E.,  222. 

Glasgow  Univ.  (1887),  355;  (1889), 
371. 

Glover,  John,  Int.  Sec.  of  Sec'l  Bureau 
(1889-1917  and  beyond),  260,  262. 

Gogebec  Range,   Wis.,  395. 

Goodale,  Elaine,  406. 

Goodenough,    Arthur,    42. 

Goodman,  Fred  S..  Gen.  Sec  Toledo 
and  Cleveland,  122  ;  State  Sec.  New 
York,  305  :  appeal  Int.  Conv.  1897 
Bible  Sec'ship.  217  ;  Bible  work  with 
E.  F.  See,  and  Int.  Bible  Sec.  (1901), 
272  ;  delegate  at  World  Conf.,  1913, 
504. 

Goodrich,  Wm.  Chauncey,  (1)  52. 


INDEX 


531 


Goodrich.  Wm.  Chauncey.   (2)   113. 

,    Win.    Chauncey,     (3)    first    Yale 

Assn.  Gen.   Sec.    (188(5),   338-9. 

Gordon.  Gen.,  his  Itible  among  his 
Queen's  treasures    (18'J4),  250. 

Goto,  IJaroa,  Japan,  host  of  World 
Stud.   Conf.    (i;)07),   47U. 

Gould,  Helen  Miller,  see  Mrs.  Finley 
Shepard. 

Grady,  ilenry  W.,  at  Int.  Conv.,  At- 
lanta  (1885),  199. 

Graham,  John  L.,  Industrial  Sec.  Wis- 
consin   State   Comm.    (1SS7),   395. 

Grand  Central  It.  R.  Station,  N.  Y., 
R.  R.  Work  there  requested  (1872), 
114;  rooms  opened  (1875),  152;  R. 
R.   Assn.    bldg.    (1887),    393. 

Duke  Alexis  N'ikolaivitch,   Russia 

(1907),   478. 

Duke    Michael    of   Russia.    479. 

Rapids     Resolutions,     passed     by 

Conv.  of  1899  at  Grand  Rapids, 
Mich.,  444  :  reaffirmed  by  Convs., 
1901,  445,  and  1904,  450-51. 

Grant,  U.  S.  pres.,  welcomes  Washing- 
ton Conv.  1871.  79-80  ;  appoints  In- 
dian Commission,  F.  R.  Brunot, 
chairman.  T.  K.  Cree,  Sec,  137. 

Granville,  Earl,  appeal  in  House  of 
Lords    (1884),   223. 

"Greatest  Thing  in  the  World,"  ad- 
dress by  Henry  Drummond,  North- 
field  Conf.    (1887),   355. 

Green,  Ashbel.  6. 

,     Wm.     Henry,     Prof.     Princeton 

Seminary  (1867).  49,  52. 

Griswold,  W.  E.  S.,  Int.  Comm.  mem- 
ber, chairman  Yale  Assn.  Graduate 
Comm.,  340. 

Growth  of  a  decade  (1901-11).  428-30. 

Guelph.  Ontario,  Provincial  Conv. 
(1873).    125,    495. 

Gulick,  Luther  H.,  first  Int.  Sec.  Phy- 
sical Dept.  (Oct.,  1887),  265;  in- 
structor at  Springfield  School  and  at 
Sees.  Conf.  (1888),  2G5-6,  259;  Sum- 
mer Schools  for  Physical  Dept.  Sees., 
267;  our  New  Gymnastics  (1889), 
the  Triangle  as  an  emblem,  266 ; 
Athletic  Assn.  league  formed  (1895), 
267. 

Gustav,  King  of  Sweden,  as  Crown 
Prince,  241. 

Gymnasium  at  Yale  (1858),  see  Yale 
College. 

Superintendents,  265. 

Gymnastics,    New,    by    Luther    Gulick, 

at  Int.  Conv.  of  1889,  266. 


Hadley,  Arthur  T.,  pres.  Y'ale  Univ., 
14. 

,  Jas.  H.,  Prof,  at  Yale  (1858-62), 

46. 

Hague,  John  R.,  Int.  Field  Dept.  Sec. 
(1888),  promoter  Educational  Work, 
268-9. 

Hall,  Geo.  A.,  Gen.  Sec,  Washington, 
D.  C,  delegate  Int.  Con.  (1870).  76, 
118  ;  "Discoverer  of  Sees.,"  76,  140  ; 
Int.  visitor  at  South,  112,  137-8; 
State  Sec'l  leader,  150,  305,  328; 
presents  State  Work  at  World's 
Conf.    (1881),  219. 

,   Gordon,    one   of  first  five   Amer. 

for.  missionaries,  9. 

,   John.   Dr.,  at   laying  cornerstone 

"old  23rd  St.  bldg."  (1868),  59;  con- 
tributor to  Assn.  Monthly,  63  ;  wel- 
comes Moody   and  his  work,   158. 


Hall,  R.  D.,  Int.  Sec.  Indian  Dept. 
(1912),  409-10. 

Hamburg,  Germany,  World  Conf. 
(1875).  145-7;  Int.  immigration 
work   (1911),  503. 

Hamilton,  Alex.,  offers  service  as  at- 
torney, 4. 

Hampton   Institute,  406. 

Hand,  Alfred  C,  first  pres.  Yale  Assn. 
(1882).   332. 

Handbook,  Assn.,  reported  to  Int. 
Conv.  of  1883,   292-3. 

Hankow,    China    (1907),    475. 

Hanover  College  Y.  M.  C.  A.  at  Int. 
Conv.    (1872),  95. 

"Happy   Christian,   The,"    29. 

Harbin,  Siberia,  visited  (1907),  477. 

Ilardie,  Joseph,  pres.  Int.  Convs.  Rich- 
mond (1875),  140;  Atlanta  (1885), 
198;  Mobile  (1897);  at  Conv.  1876 
secures  Int.  Sec.  for  Colored  Work, 
160,  401-2 ;  secures  Int.  Sec.  for 
South,  200 ;  parlor  conf.  financial 
canvass,  205  ;  tribute  to  Chairman 
Brainerd  (1893),  282;  life-long  be- 
nevolence,  140. 

Harland,  Marian  (Mrs.  Terhune),  dele- 
gate to  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Conf.  (1875), 
228. 

Harris,  Norman  W.,  Int.  Comm.  mem- 
ber, supporter  Colored  Work,  403- 
4. 

Harrlsburg,  Pa.,  Assn.  in  Civil  War, 
129-30. 

Harper's  Ferry  Continuation  School, 
485-6. 

Harvard  College  Assn.,  formed  (1886), 
332-3,   411-12. 

Harvey,  Turlington  W.,  pres.  Chicago 
Assn.  (1876-'78),  enlists  younger 
Directors,  191  ;  effective  member  of 
Int.  Comm.,  255-6. 

Haystack  Prayer  Meeting  and  Monu- 
ment, Williamstown,  Mass.,  and 
Stud.  Assn.  movement,  165-6,  322, 
383. 

Hazard,   Postmaster  Gen.,  4. 

Heidelberg   Univ.,    in    Baden,   16. 

Helbing,  H.,  Nat'l  Assn.  Sec,  Germany, 
at  Stuttgart  Assn.  Jubilee  (1911), 
184  ;  at  N.  Amer.  Assn.  Jubilee 
(1901),  439;  entertains  at  Barmen, 
World  Conf.    (1909),  503. 

Helder  Dyke.   Holland,  244. 

Hemingway,  A.  T.,  Gen.  Sec.  Chicago 
Assn.,   122.   190,   490. 

Henson,  Philip  S.,  Bible  address  at 
Int.   Conv.    (1883),   216. 

Hibbard,  Chas.  V.,  Int.  Sec.  Japan, 
Army  Assn.  Work,  Russo-Japanese 
War,  and  Assn.  War  Work  in  France, 
311,  476. 

Hicks,  Clarence  J.,  Int.  chief  R.  R. 
Sec.  (1890).  394;  Assoc.  Gen.  Sec 
(1901-11),  431-2;  program  of  Jubi- 
lee Int.  Convs.  (1901  and  1904), 
438,  451  ;  campaign  for  Int.  Comm. 
bldg.,  459  ;  Canadian  Section  of  Int. 
Comm.,  497  ;  suggests  chart  of  Int. 
Comm.  reorganization,  455  ;  succeeds 
McBurney  on  Delegates'  Comm., 
World  Confs.,  314,  501,  503 ;  pro- 
vides his  successor,  506. 

Hieb,  Louis,  Int.  For.  Sec.  In  Ceylon, 
379. 

Himalayas,  India   (1902),  423. 

Hippodrome,  Moody  meetings,  N.  Y., 
1876,  work  in  inquiry  Room,  and 
on   Exec.    Comm.,    results,    154-9. 


532 


INDEX 


Historical  Library,  see  Bowne. 

History  of  N.  Amer.  Assn.  (1913),  510, 
514. 

Hitclicock,  Rosvvell  D.,  Prof.,  49,  52 ; 
episcopal  polity.  251-2 ;  estimate 
Stud.    Assus.,    351-2. 

Hobbs,  Bruno,  loss  by  his  sudden 
death,   506. 

Hodge,  Caspar,  Prof.,  49,  52. 

,  Chas.,   Prof.,  49,  52. 

,    Geo.    B.,    Int.    Sec.    Educational 

Work  (1893),  270-1;  first  Int.  Conv. 
exhibit  (1893),  290-1;  exhibit  Jubi- 
lee Conv.  (1901),  439-40;  Bureau  of 
Records   (1916),  440. 

Hogg,  Quentin,  London  Polytechnic 
Institute,    347. 

Uolden,  Edwin  R.,  Int.  corresponding 
member  for  Rhode  Island  (1872), 
86. 

Holt,  Henry,  44. 

Homes  and  home  office  of  R.  C.  M.,  see 
R.   C.  M. 

Honolulu  Assn.    (1902),  423. 

Houghteling,  Jas.  L.,  pres.  Chicago 
Assn.  (1881-4),  member  Int.  Comm., 
joins  C.  H.  McCormick  and  J.  V. 
Farweli,  Jr.,  in  conduct  of  Assn., 
19U-1,  254-8,  352. 

Howard,  O.  O.,  Gen.  delegate  to  World's 
Conf.  (1884),  221;  tribute  to  Chair- 
man Brainerd,  282. 

—  Univ.,  Stud.  Assn.    (1869),  401. 

Hoyt,  John  Sherman,  Int.  Comm.  mem- 
ber, vice-chairman  Industrial  Dept., 
296. 

Hudson  Academy,  Claverack,  N.  Y., 
16. 

Huntington,  Joshua,   Rev.,   Boston,   13. 

Hunton,  Wm.  A.,  first  colored  City 
Sec.  (1888-90),  and  first  colored 
Sec.   Int.   Comm    (1890-1917),   402-3. 

Hurrey,  Chas.  D..  chief  Int.  For.  Sec. 
South  America  and  Senior  Stud.  Sec. 
Home   Field    (1912-16),   361. 

Hutchins,  Edgar  A.,  Int.  Comm.  mem- 
ber   (1869-75),   128. 

,  (Geographer  Gen.,  4. 


Ibuka,  K.,  chairman  of  Japanese  Stud. 

Assn.    movement    (1895),    and    vice- 
chairman    (1897).    of    World's    Stud. 

Christian  Fedn.,  321,  317,  382. 
leyasu.  Napoleon  of  Japan,  469. 
Illustrated      Christian      Weekly,      The 

(1873-4),   109,   487. 
Incorporation  of  Int.  Comm.,  see   Int. 

Comm. 
India    missionaries,    call    from    (1887), 

369. 
Indian     Commission    of    Pres.     Grant, 

chairman,  F.  R.  Brunot ;  Sec,  T.  K. 

Cree,   130-1,  137,   153. 
Indians,  N.  Amer.,  ten  Assns.  in  Year- 
book (1886),  404-5;  Int.  Sees.,  C.  A. 

Eastman,     405-9 ;     Arthur    Tibbetts, 

R.  D.  Hall,  409-10. 
Industrial   Work  and   Dept.  : 

In  State  Work,  395-6. 

Int.    Sees.,    Michener,    Towson. 

Chairmen.  M.   H.  Dodge,  J.  S.  Hoyt, 

396-8,  451.  503. 

And  the  Clubhouse,  398-400. 
Influence    and    Relationships   of    Y.    M. 

C.  A.,  377. 
Ingalls,    M.    E.,   pres.    Chesapeake  and 

Ohio  R.   R.,  394,  399. 
Ingersoll.    Edwin    D.,    first    Int.    R.    R. 

Sec.    (1877-87),  122,  289.  391-2;  be- 


gins   Industrial    Dept    Work,    396 ; 
finds  first    Colored   Int.    Sec,    402. 
Initiative    and    Referendum,    see    Int. 

Convs. 
Inland  Sea  of  Japan   (1907),  468. 
Inquiry   Room   workers,   in  Moody   and 

Sankey  meetings,   155-6. 
Insurance  Alliance,   Sees.,   496. 
Intercollegiate     Movement,     see     Stud. 

Assns. 
Interior,  Chicago,  weekly  paper,  490. 
Int.    Assn.    Bidg.,    see    Buildings    and 

Int.  Comm. 
International,    name   and   bond,   496. 
International    Committee  : 
All-round    Sees.,    288-9. 
Annual    meeting    with    Sees.,    194-6, 

296,   306,   418,   508-9,   517. 
Assoc.     Gen.     Sees,     home    and    for. 

fields,    Mott    and    Hicks,    431-34 ; 

Brockman,  519. 
Assn.   Men  and  Young  Men's  Era  Co., 

490-2. 
Building,  455-61. 
Bureau   of   Records.   440. 
Canadian  members  and  sections,  496- 

9. 
Chairmanship    problem,    274-81. 
Chairmanships:  Brainerd    (1867-92), 

60-286;     Monroe     (1892-4),     287- 

94  ;  Pratt  (1894-5),  275-6  ;  Warner 

(1895-1910),      276-504;      Marling, 

(1)    (1910-15),  505-20,   (2)    (1915- 

17),  505-20. 
City  Assn.  Dept.,  517. 
Consulting  Gen.  Sec  for  life,  519. 
Corresponding     members,     on     home 

field,    111-2 ;    on    for.    field,    367-8, 

374. 
Dinner  meetings  begun,  195. 
District  Sees.,  461-2,  516. 
Gen.  Sec'ship,  its  development :  Gen. 

Sec.  and  editor   (1869),   61;   Gen. 

Sec     (1872),    105-6;    a    successor 

sought  (1895),  302-3;  two  Assocs. 

secured      (1899-1901).      431-2;      a 

Canadian   Nat'l   Sec.    (1912),  499; 

second  Gen.  Sec.  sought,  514  ;  and 

secured,  517-20. 
Incorporated,  186-87. 
Leadership  defined.  284,  510-11. 
Macfarland    and    Fry    Commissions, 

510-20. 
Members  added.   141,   191,   256.   290. 
Offices,   21,   62,  253-4,   305-6,  314-15. 
Office  Sec,  139. 

"Origin,     Field    and    Work,"     453-4. 
Parlor    confs..    see   Parlor   Confs. 
I'ermanent  Fund,   418-21. 
Reelected   (1872),  93-5. 
Senior   Sees,   and   Cabinet,  508,    517. 
Sub-committees,    192,    288-91,    295-6. 
Temporary   agents,   203. 
Visitation  at  South.  112,  137-8. 
ISee  also.  Int.  Work,  Army  and  Navy, 

Colored,    County    Work.    German- 

Amer.,       Industrial,      Stud.,      and 

other   Departments. 
International  Conventions  : 

Names,    (1)    Conv.   Y.   M.   C.   A.'s  of 

U.  S.  and  British  Provinces  (1854- 

79),   71;    (2)    Conv.  Y.   M.   C.  A.'s 

of  N.  Amer.    (1879-1917).  496. 

Buffalo  (1854),  its  Jubilee  (1904), 
441-53. 

Troy  (1859),  Geo.  H.  Stuart,  pres., 
74. 

Chicago    (1863),    Geo.    H.    Stuart, 
pres.,  74. 

Philadelphia        (1865),        Cephas 


INDEX 


533 


Bralnerd,  pres.,  receives  report 
of  U.  S.  Christian  Commission 
Auxiliary  at  Harrisburg,  130. 

Albany  (1866).  Conv.  of  new  de- 
partures, 58 ;  Thane  Miller, 
pres.,   74. 

Detroit  (1868),  recommends  open 
air  meetings,  59,  60 ;  fails  to 
receive  resolution  favoring  Stud. 
Assn.    Work,    64,    330. 

Portland  (1869).  Wm.  E.  Dodge, 
Jr.,  pres.,  adopts  Evangelical 
Chh.  Basis,  60  (see  Evangel- 
ical). 

Indianapolis  (1870).  John  S.  Mac- 
lean, 1st  Canadian  pres.,  wel- 
comes Coll.  Assn.,  64,  330 ;  R. 
C.  M.'s  first  Int.  Conv.,  73  ;  be- 
ginning of  many  friendships,  73- 
8. 

Washington  (1871),  John  Wana- 
maker,  pres.,  Sec'l  delegates 
form  Gen.  Sees.  Conf.,  80-1. 

Lowell  (1872).  Thane  Miller, 
pres.,  Int.  Com.,  reelected,  93-4  ; 
two  undergraduate  college  dele- 
gates present :  Bishop  W.  R. 
Lambuth  and  the  first  Int.  Stud. 
Sec,  L.  D.  Wishard,  95,  119, 
161. 

Poughkeepsie  (1873),  H.  Kirke 
Porter,  pres.,  two  phases  of 
State  Work  discussed,  115-8 ; 
Bible  and  R.  R.  Work  presented, 
118  :  Sec'l  delegates  begin  four- 
days'  session  of  Sees.  Confs., 
118-20. 

Dayton  (1874).  Frank  D.  Taylor, 
pres..  Railroad  and  Ger.  Amer. 
Assns.  and  Int.  parlor  confs. 
approved,  134  (see  von  Schluem- 
bach)  ;  financial  crisis  Int. 
Comm.,  Dayton  Assn.  secures 
Sec.  of  first  rank ;  Bible  mes- 
sage  of   British   guest,    133-6. 

Richmond  (1875),  Major  Jos. 
Hardie,  pres.,  fellowship  with 
South  strengthened ;  colored 
Assns.  prayed  for ;  first  Int. 
Conv.  Stud,  topic ;  solvency  of 
Int.  Com.  justifies  larger  staff, 
141-5. 

Toronto  (1876),  Russell  Sturgis, 
Jr.,  pres.,  centennial  year 
Conv. ;  George  Williams  our 
guest  with  Bible  class  message ; 
comm.  on  permanent  organiza- 
tion becomes  elective ;  Int.  Sec. 
for  Colored  Work  authorized 
and  money  needed  secured,  159- 
61,  402-4. 

Louisville  (1877).  J.  V.  Farwell, 
pres.,  Conv.  becomes  biennial  in 
response  to  appeal  from  Mc- 
Burney,  170 :  Int.  intercollegi- 
ate work  and  Sec.  authorized, 
164-5,  331. 

Baltimore  (1879),  D.  L.  Moody, 
pres.,  impressive  evangelistic 
messages  from  Moody,  and  his 
preliminary  appeal  to  Sees. 
Conf.  :  Int.  work  benefited  dur- 
ing this  first  biennial  interval  ; 
fourteen  parlor  confs.  held ; 
progress  of  intercollegiate  work, 
179    331-2 

Cleveland  (1881),  John  L.  Wheat, 
pres.,  incorporation  of  Int. 
Comm.  authorized.  182 ;  Ger. 
Amer.      Work     growing,      183 ; 


Physical    Work    for    first    time 
presented,    264. 

Milwaukee  (1883),  Charles  L. 
Colby,  pres..  Int.  Comm.  incor- 
poration accepted ;  Int.  Work 
defined ;  Sec'l  Training  Schools 
authorized,    186-92. 

Atlanta  (1885),  Joseph  Hardie, 
pres.,  spiritual  Bible  message 
from  Bishop  Baldwin ;  revival 
in  Atlanta ;  Sec.  Phildius  from 
Berlin  a  guest  ;  Bowne  Ilistl. 
Library   received,    198-201. 

San  Francisco  (1887),  S.  H.  Blake, 
pres..  growth  of  Int.  Work, 
fourteen  supplemental  helpeis 
report,  204  ;  Assn.  Work  on  Pa- 
cific   coast    promoted,    201-2. 

Philadelphia  (1889),  H.  B.  Cham- 
berlin.  pres..  For.  Assn.  Work 
by  Int.  Sees,  authorized,  373-4  ; 
representation  of  branches  of 
Assns.   reafiirmed,   253. 

Kansas  City  (1891),  Thos.  S.  Mc- 
Pheeters,  pres.,  plan  and  polity 
of  Int.  For.  Work.,  as  framed 
by  Int.  Comm.,  discussed  and 
adopted.   375-6. 

Indianapolis  (1893),  G.  N.  Bierce, 
pres..  Int.  Comm.  Chairman 
Monroe  presents  his  first  and 
only  report,  including  the  first 
Assn.  exhibit  received  by  an  Int. 
Conv.  :  Weidensall  becomes  an 
honorary  volunteer  Int.  Sec.  for 
life    291-3 

Springfield,  Mass.  (1895),  H.  M. 
Moore,  pres..  Assn.  Athletic 
League  authorized,  267  ;  per- 
manent Int.  Comm.  fund  advo- 
cated,  418. 

Mobile,  Joseph  Hardie  (1897), 
pres..  Int.  Bible  Work  Sec.  pro- 
vided for,  217,  272. 

Grand  Rapids  (1899),  Edwin  L. 
Shuey.  pres..  Army  and  Navy 
Work  authorized.  310-11  ;  per- 
manent fund  authorized,  419  ; 
Boston  chosen  for  Jubilee  Conv., 
435-6 ;  "Grand  Rapids  Resolu- 
tions" adopted,  444  :  Int.  Comm. 
authorized  to  publish  Aasn.  Men. 
491-2. 

Jubilee  Year  (1901),  held  at  Mon- 
treal and  Boston.  W'm. E.Dodge, 
pres.  ;  Howard  Williams,  hon. 
pres.  ;  elaborate  Jubilee  pro- 
gram,  435-40. 

Jubilee,  Buffalo  (1904),  Henry  B. 
Macfarland.  pres.,  some  Jubilee 
commemorative  features,  442  ; 
chiefly  a  controversial  discus- 
sion, 441-55  ;  Summer  School  at 
Silver  Bay  authorized,  484 ; 
Canadian  section  of  Int.  Comm. 
approved,  497. 

Washington,  D.  C.  (1907),  Selden 
P.   Spencer,   pres. 

Toronto  (1910),  E.  R.  Wood,  pres. 

Cincinnati  (1913),  Ira  Landrith, 
pres. 

Action  by  these  last  three  Convs. 
upon  Int.  Dist.  Sees.,  Int.  and 
State  Comm.  relation.  461  ; 
Evangelical  Chh.  Basis.  462  :  In- 
itiative and  referendum,  463 ; 
reorganization  of  both  Int. 
Comm.  and  Conv.  as  recom- 
mended chiefly  by  Macfarland 
commission  of  Int.  Comm.,  510-12. 


534 


INDEX 


Cleveland  (1916).  N.  W.  Ayer, 
pres.,  further  reorganization  of 
Int.  Comm.  and  Conv.  as  pro- 
posed by  ttie  Fry  Commission, 
434  450  515-20. 
Topics  during  period  1871-1900,  214- 
17. 
Int.    and    State    Work    Relations,    128, 

443-55,   461-2,  511. 
International    Work  : 

Home — pamphlets  of  1874  and  1904, 
131-3.  453-4  ;  defined  in  1883,  187- 
8 ;    effect    of    Civil,    Spanish    and 
World    Wars,    74,     309-13,    515-6, 
520-1  ;   progress,   428-31 ;   financial 
support  and  limitation   (see  finan- 
cial, and  State  Work),  441-55. 
Foreign — forerunners    in    Asia,    352, 
366.    and   in    Europe.    233-4  :    calls 
from   field   and   beginning   of   For. 
Assn.    Work,    365-9 ;    1st   and    2nd 
World    Tours,     369-71.     301.    379- 
81  ;  progress,  433-4,  474,  515. 
Int.   Y.   M.   C.   A.   College,   see   Spring- 
field. 
Inter-Seminary   Alliance,   372. 
Ishii,   J.,    Okayama   Orphanage,    470-1. 


Jaffna,  Coll.  Ceylon,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  352. 

Japan,  progress  of  Assn.  work,  366-8, 
370,  374-5,   433,   465-70. 

Jarley's  Wax   Works,   149. 

Jenkins,  Edward  C,  423. 

.  I.  G.,  121. 

Jennings.  Wm.  K.,  veteran  Int.  Conv. 
delegate,    76,    139.    217,   437. 

Jerusalem   (1892),  278. 

Jesup,  Morris  K.,  vice-pres.  and  pres. 
N.  Y.  City  Assn.,  60 ;  Int.  Comm. 
member  and  supporter,  141,  206 ; 
promoter  of  Moody's  work  in  N.  Y. 
and  San  Francisco,  158-9,  179-80. 
430 ;  helper  of  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  227 ; 
Amer.  vice-pres.  of  London  Jubilee 
Conf.  (1894),  245-6:  leading  pro- 
moter of  R.  R.  Work,  391. 

Jeypore,    India,   visited    (1902),   422. 

Jhansi,  India   (1902),  423. 

Johnson,    Herrick,   97,    215. 

Johnston,  Geo.   D.,   402. 

,  Henry  P.,  45. 

Jones,  John  Sparhawk,  50. 

,  Paul,  27. 

Journalism,  R.  C.  M.  connection  with 
(1867-71),   52,   83. 

Jubilee   Assn.,    exhibit    (1901),    439-40. 

Jubilees  of  Assn.,  four  described,  435. 

,  Diamond  (1907),  see  Evangl.  Al- 
liance. 

Judd,  Albert  F.,  43,  321. 

.ludson,  Adoniram,  one  of  first  five 
Amer.  for.  missionaries,  9. 

Junglings  Vereins  of  Germany,  103 ; 
supplemented  by  Amer.  type  (1883), 
184. 


Kaighn,  R.  P..  Int.  Senior  Sec.  of  Seel. 

Bureau,  262. 
Kaiser.  German   (1901),  439. 
Kansas  Comm..  Conf.  with,  377. 

Missy.  Movement  in  Soudan,  376-7. 

Kedgaon,   India    (1902),  422. 
Kenilworth  Castle   (1867),  53. 
Kennaway,  Sir  John,  220,  223. 
Kennedy,  E.  J.,  see  London  Assn.,  200, 

317. 
Kent,  James.  4. 
Keswick  Conf.,  300. 


Kingman,    Abner,    vice-chairman    Int. 

Comm.,  499. 
Kinnaird,  Lord,   439. 
Kitchel.  Cornelius  L.,  41. 
Klug,    Christian    (1)    German    delegate 

World  Confs.  (1872,  1875),  105,  146; 

German      member      World's      Comm. 

(1878),    176. 
,   Christian    (2),    German   member 

World's  Comm.   and  delegate  to  Int. 

Jubilee   Conv.    (1901),  438. 
Knight,  Fredk.   I.,  45. 
Knudsen,    State    Sec,    lumbermen's   in- 
dustrial work,  Wis.,  395. 
Kohlapur,   India    (1902),   422. 
Korea  visited    (1907),  465,  482. 
Koska  Okodakicye,  Sioux  Indian  Assns. 

(1885),   404. 
Krummacher,      K.,      German      delegate 

World  Conf.    (1872),   1U5. 
Kyoto,  Japan    ground  broken  for  first 

Assn.  building  (1907),  470. 


Lahore,  India  (1902),  423. 

Lake   Geneva  Conf.,   see  Geneva   Lake. 

Lake,  John,  local  Sec.  Edgefield,  S.  C, 
first  State  County  Sec,  Kentucky, 
415. 

Lambuth,  W.  R.,  Bishop,  96. 

Lampe,  Joseph  J.,  54,  213. 

Lampson,  Wm..  42. 

Langdon.   W.   C.,   400. 

Laymen  in  authority  and  control ;  Sees, 
and  laymen  in  leadership  of  Assn., 
70,   261,   448-9,   503. 

Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  a  fore- 
runner of,  277. 

,    Dinner   Meeting,    Shanghai,    474. 

Leadville  visited  (1902),  424. 

Lee,  Wm.  F.  treas.  Int.  Comm.  (1866- 
71),  60,  61  ;  visitor  at  South  (1870), 
112 ;  delegate  to  World's  Conf., 
Hamburg   (1875),   146. 

Leimkueller,  Wis.  State  Sec.  among 
Lumbermen   (1886),  395. 

Lewis,  Robert  E.,  Int.  For.  Sec,  Shang- 
hai, 379 ;  Metropolitan  Sec,  Cleve- 
land. Ohio,  513,  515. 

,   Wm.   E.,    State   Sec,   Wis.,   122, 

395 

Leyden  Univ.   (1889),  371. 

Library,  Historical,  see  Bowne. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  32,  34,  402. 

Lind,  Jenny,  250. 

Linievitch,    Gen..    Russia    (1907),    479. 

Livingston,   William,  4. 

Local  Assn.,  Primacy  of,  205,  440-55. 

Assn.  Work,  67-8,  251-73. 

London    Parent    Assn.,    18.    23,    101-2, 

146-7,  173.  218-20,  243-9 ;  Alders- 
gate  St.  Rooms,  102 :  1st  Bldg. 
erected,  66,  430 ;  Jubilee  of,  243-9, 
293.  435. 

Polytechnic  Institute,  347. 

Long,    R.    A.,    promoter    of    Industrial 

Assn.  Work,  399. 

Loomis,  Elias,  Professor  at  Yale,  46. 

Lords,  House  of  (1881),  222-3. 

Loughridge,  Chas.,  Yale  delegate  to 
Int.  Conv.  (1881),  pres.  Yale  Assn., 
335. 

Louisville   Assn.    reorganized,    125. 

L'Ouverture.  Toussaint,  33. 

Lovelace,  Chas.  W.,  Int.  Comm.  Trus- 
tee and  worker,  205  ;  leader  at  the 
South.  402. 

Lowrie,  Samuel  T.,  veteran  delegate  of 
(1854   and  1904),   442. 

Lyman,  E.  Stiles,  42. 


INDEX 


535 


Lyman,  Joseph,  8. 

Lyon,  D.  Willard,  Int.  For.  Nat'l  Sec, 
China,  379. 


Macaulay,  Zachary,  5. 

,  Lord.  6,  28. 

Macfailand,  Henry  B.  F.,  pres.  Jubilee 
Int.  Conv.  (1904),  449;  commission 
chairman.  510-11. 

Maclean,  John  S.,  first  Canadian  pres. 
Int.  Conv.  (1870)  ;  Bishop  of  Nova 
Scotia  Assns.,  89.  495 ;  Int.  Comm. 
member  (1875),  141;  Bible  Topic 
delegate   Int.   Conv.    (1871),   215. 

MacVeagh,  Franklin,  44. 

Madras  Assn.,  Madras  missionaries  ask 
for  Assn.,  369  ;  organized,  370  ;  vis- 
ited (1902).  428. 

Madura,  India  (1902),  423. 

Man  without  a  country,  90. 

Manchuria,  Army  Worli  (1904-5),  311, 
476. 

Manila  visited  (1907),  465. 

Mansion  House,  London  (1881),  220; 
(1S94),  244. 

Marling,  Alfred  E.,  Int.  Comm.  mem- 
ber Field  Dept.,  290-1  :  vice-chair- 
man, 295  ;  delegate  to  World  Conf. 
(1898),  313;  Jubilee  fund  donor 
(1902),  421;  Montreal  Jubilee  day 
(1901),  439;  State  Work  Confs. 
(1905),  451;  Int.  bldg.  (1906),  456; 
acting  chairman  (1908),  461  ;  World 
Comm.  meeting,  London  (1907),  475. 
481  ;  Canadian  negotiations  and 
nat'l  organization  (1906-11),  497- 
9;  Paris  Jubilee  World  Conf.  (1905), 
501  ;  Chairman  Int.  Comm.,  first 
phase  (1911-17),  506-7;  emergency 
service  (1911-15),  507-9;  Macfar- 
land   and    Frv    Commissions,    510-20. 

Marquand,  Fredk.,  Trustee  (1869), 
New  York  Assn.,  50  ;  offers  to  erect 
Yale  Assn.  bldg.,  333-4. 

Chapel,  Yale,  334. 

Hall,   Northfleld  campus,   360. 

Marriage  of  R.  C.  M.   (1883),  196-8. 
Marseilles.  France  (Xmas,  1902),  422. 
Marshall,  John,  2S5. 

Martin,  Edward  Sanford,  48. 

,  Throop   (1863-5),  48. 

Martyrs'  Memorial  Hall,  Shanghai 
(1907).   471. 

Massey,  Gerald    (1901),   420. 

Matthey,  Robert,  Worlds  Comm.  mem- 
ber, Geneva,   175. 

Mayak,  St.  Petersburg,  Russia,  Assn., 
236,    477-8. 

McAlpin,  Chas.  W.,  Int.  Comm.  mem- 
ber, 421. 

,  D.  H.,  Int.  Comm.  member,  chair- 
man County  or  Rural  Comm.,  295, 
415,   421. 

,   E.      A.,      Mrs.,      Chairman      Int. 

Comm.'s   Women's   Auxiliary,   417. 

McArthur,    Robert,    158. 

McBurney,  Robert  R..  N.  Y.  City  Assn. 
Sec.  (1865-7),  first  acquaintance 
with  R.  C.  M.,  56,  58,  60,  61  ;  grow- 
ling intlmacv  as  fellow  workers  in 
"old  23rd  St.  bldg.,"  and  N.  Y. 
Assn.,  67-70,  83,  148,  225,  268,  272, 
275,  303,  316;  Int.  and  State  con- 
vention and  comm.  leader.  77,  128, 
134-5,  141.  160,  163.  170-1,  215, 
217,  219,  227-8,  254,  265,  272.  275, 
282,  287,  294,  305-8.  368,  375-8, 
430.  449,  489-90  ;  promoter  of  four- 
fold  work,   66-7,    77,   215,    217,    225, 


265,  268-9,  272,  327,  501 ;  Nestor 
of  Sees,  and  Sees,  conf.,  80,  81,  119, 
121-2,  124,  257,  272,  332  ;  World's 
Conf.  leader,  101,  146,  175,  219,  233, 
245,  247,  249,  314,  501  ;  called  to 
Chicago,  257  ;  trip  to  I'alestine,  277  ; 
interest  in  For.  Work,  294,  368.  375- 
8  ;  last  sickness,  323-6  ;  Tower  Room, 
326-8. 

McClintock,  John,  contributor  Aaan. 
Monthly,  63. 

McConaughy,  David,  City  Gen.  Sec, 
Harrisburg,  Pa.,  Harlem  Branch,  N. 
Y.  City,  and  Phi  la.,  and  Int.  For. 
Sec,    India,   370,   392. 

,  Jas.,  City  Gen.  Sec,  Harrisburg, 

Pa.,  122,  189 ;  Harlem  Branch  Sec 
and  Assoc.  Gen.  Sec,  N.  Y.  City, 
called  to  Chicago    (1884),  257. 

McCook,  John  J.,  Int.  Chairman  R.  R. 
Coram.,  295  ;  Army  and  Navy  Comm., 
:no.  392. 

McCormick,  Cyrus  H.  (1),  151;  Int. 
Parlor  Conf.,  129,  191. 

,  Mrs.  C.  H.,  senior,  lifelong  inter- 
est in  Int.  work,  151,  191  ;  generous 
provision  for  J.  R.  Mott's  work,  381  ; 
for  Int.  Comm.'s  Jubilee  Fund,  420. 

,    Cyrus    H.,     (2),    Chicago    Assn. 

Director,  190-1  ;  Int.  Comm.  mem- 
ber and  substantial  supporter,  2(i6  ; 
Houghteling  -  McCormick  -  Farwell 
agreement,  254-8.  352 ;  tribute  to 
Cephas  Brainerd,  282  ;  helps  Colored 
Assn.  Work,  Chicago,  Int.  Jubilee 
F'und,  404,  421  ;  chairman  Int.  Conv. 
Comm.  Twenty-one,  445-6,  448-9  ; 
generous  supporter  N,  Amer.  Assn. 
periodical,   490-2. 

,  Henry,  Colonel,  129. 

,    Jas.,    Jr.,    veteran    in    chh.    and 

Assn.  work,  128-9 ;  leading  helper 
financial  crisis  (1873-8),  130-34, 
139  ;  Int.  Comm.  member,  141,  151  ; 
Bible  Work  Topic  Int.  Conv.,  215 ; 
chairman  Yale  Assn.  grad.  comm., 
335,  337,  339. 

,    Vance   C,    Yale   Assn.   Graduate 

Comm.  member.  335. 

McCosh,  James,  pres.  Princeton  Coll.. 
encourages  L.  D.  Wishard  to  accept 
Int.  Coll.  Sec'ship,  166  ;  estimate  of 
Stud.  Volunteer  Movement  (1887), 
364. 

McCoy,  Henry  J.,  veteran  Gen.  Sec, 
122;  San  Francisco  (1880-1),  180; 
fund  for  third  San  Francisco  bldg. 
(1906),  430-1,  464. 

McCurdy.  James  H.,  succeeds  Gulick 
as  teacher  Springfield  School.  267. 

McDowell,  Wm.  F.,  Bishop,  dedication 
Int.  Comm.'s  bldg.    (1908),  460. 

McGill  Univ.,  four  delegates  Mt.  Her- 
mon  Conf.    (1886),   351. 

McKim,  Judson  J.,  Gen.  Sec  New 
Haven   Assn.    (1916-17),   342. 

McKinley,  President,  authorizes  Army 
and  Navy  Assn.  work  (1898).  309. 

McTyier,  J.  F.,  Int.  Sec.  Business 
Dept.,  508. 

McWilliams,  Daniel  W.,  gives  fund  for 
first  two  Stud.  Volunteer  tours,  363, 
372. 

Men,  see  Assn.  Men. 

Messer,  L.  Wilbur,  veteran  Gen.  Sec, 
122  ;  teacher  Sec'l  Training  Center, 
Peoria,  111.  (1881-2),  189;  Chicago 
Gen.  Sec  (1888-1917),  258;  Young 
Men's  Era  and  Assn.  Men  490-2 ; 
N.      Amer.      paper      World      Conf. 


536 


INDEX 


(1898),   314;    part    in    conv.    debate 

(iy04),   441);    leads   conv.    action   on 

Int.      Comm.'s      work      (1897-191G), 

450 ;    leader    In    Int.    Comm.'s    For. 

Worl?,  433,  450,  515. 
Mestehaninoff,  pres.  of  Mayak  (Assn.), 

St.  Petersburg   (1907),  477. 
Meter  Hill,  203;   l*ort  Arthur    (1907), 

476. 
Metropolitan  organization,  N.  Y.,  Phila., 

Chicago,  B'lilyn,  Huffalo,  251-3. 
Micheuer,  Chas.  C,  Int.  Stud.  Sec.  and 

first  Industrial  Work  Sec,  397. 
Michigan  Univ.  Assn.,  see  Stud.  Assns. 
Militia  Tent  Assn.  Work,  276,   309. 
Millar,  Wm.  M.,  Int.  Field  Sec.  (1889), 

291  ;    Army    and    Navy    Sec.    (1898- 

1910),  309-10. 
Miller,     H.    Thane,    pres.     Int.    Convs. 

1866,   '67,   '68.   '72  ;   Amer.   vice-pres. 

at     Jubilee    World's    Conf.     (1894). 

56,  74-5,  245  ;  presides  at  first  parlor 

conf.      (1874),     131-2;    Int.     Comm. 

member    (1875),    141,    160;    at    the 

South     (1875,    '76,    and    '77),    203; 

Y.  W.  C.  A.  Conv.   (1875),  168,  227- 

8  ;  at  parlor  confs.,  205. 
.   H.   Thane,   Mrs.,   leader  in  Wom- 
en's  Assn.    movement.    168 ;    relation 

to  Stud.  Assn.  Work.  228. 
,     Ransford     S.,     Int.     For.     Sec, 

Japan,  379. 
Mills,    W.    H.,   first    Sec    English    Nat'l 

Council      (1881),      220;      hon.      Sec. 

World's  Comm.,  242  ;  guest  of  Jubilee 

Int.   Conv.    (1901)     439. 
Minneapolis   Assn.,    fund  for  first    Int. 

For.  Sec   (1887),  364. 
Minnesota   Conv.    (1887),    364. 

Steamei",  465. 

Miraj,   India    (1903),   422. 

Monroe,  Elbert  B..  pres.  N.  Y.  Assn., 
two  terms,  chairman  Int.  Comm., 
chairman  comm.  on  Moody  Hippo- 
drome fund  (1876),  159;  member 
Int.  Comm.  (1883),  begins  fund  for 
San  Francisco  Conv.  ( 1S87 ) ,  202  ; 
with  Mrs.  M.,  donor  of  Yale  Assn. 
building  (Dwight  Hall)  (1883-6), 
237,  333-6  ;  suggests  first  Metropoli- 
tan organization  (N.  Y.,  1887),  251- 
3 ;  tribute  to  Chairman  Brainerd, 
succeeds  him  as  Int.  Chairman.  282, 
287-94 ;  chairman  For.  Education 
Comm.  (1887),  366-8;  advocates  Int. 
For.  Work,  374  ;  provides  for  Euro- 
pean Stud,  visitation,  371,  and 
Palestine  trip  It.  C.  M.  and  Mc- 
Burney  (1891-2).  277:  helps  pro- 
vide Int.  Comm.  Jubilee  Fund,  418. 

,  Mrs.,  293-4,  333-6. 

Montauban,  France   (1851),  22. 

Montreal  Assn.    (1851).  23. 

Directors,  vote  sabbatical  year  to 

veteran  Sec.   Budge,  426  ;   in  critical 
conf.  with  K.  C.  M.,  437-8. 

Jubilee    celebration    (1901),   435-9. 

Moody,  Dwight  L.,  as  pres.  and  Sec 
Chicago  Assn.  at  N.  Y.  State  Conv. 
(1867),  56-7;  1st  meetings  with  R. 
C.  M.  (1870),  72-4,  77;  at  New 
England  State  Convs.  (1871).  78; 
gives  Sec'l  motto,  121  ;  helps  British 
Assns.  (1874-5),  146,  218;  Hippo- 
drome meetings,  N.  Y.  (1876),  sym- 
pathy with  R.  C.  M.  and  support  of 
Int.  Work  and  of  N.  Y.  Assn.,  154- 
9 ;  most  fruitful  campaign  method, 
177;  Int.  Conv.  pres.  (1879).  re- 
organizer    of    San    Francisco    Assn. 


(1880),  177-80;  and  of  Chicago 
Assn.  (1877),  177-80;  Bible  Topic 
Conv.  (1879),  215;  chairman  Evan- 
gelistic Comm.  U.  S.  Christian  Com- 
mission (1898),  310;  in  Stud.  Work 
at  Princeton  (1876  and  1885),  Yale 
(1878  and  1885),  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge, England  (1882),  331,  344- 
5,  411  ;  in  Int.  Stud.  Bible  work,  en- 
lists Kynastou  Studd..  346-8 ;  host 
of  Mt.  Hermon  (1886),  and  North- 
field  (1887-99)  Confs.,  349-60;  pro- 
motes Int.  For.  Assn.  Work,  365, 
367. 

Moody  and  Sankey  Fund,  contribution 
to  Int.  Comm.   work,   156-7. 

Moore,  Henry  M.,  leading  Mass.  State 
Comm.  member,  115 ;  Int.  Comm. 
member  (1875-1905),  115;  tribute 
to  Chairman  Brainerd,  282  ;  dele- 
gate to  Int.  Conv.   (1893),  291. 

,    John   F.,   Int.    Comm.    Senior   R. 

R.  Sec,  394-5. 

Moorland,  James  E.,  Int.  Colored  chief 
Sec,  401-3. 

Moral  Soc'y  at  Yale   (1797),  13. 

Morgan.  J.  Pierpont,  treas.  N.  Y.  Assn. 
(1869),  58,  60;  exec  comm.  Moody 
Hippodrome  meetings,  158. 

Morley,  Samuel  H.,  leading  member 
London  Comm.,  delegate  World's 
Conf.   (1881),  220. 

Morning  Watch,  message  of  John  R. 
Mott,  296. 

Morris,  Wm.  H.,  veteran  Gen.  Sec, 
122;  at  Poughkeepsie.  N.  Y.  (1875), 
at  Baltimore  (1882-1917),  140; 
teacher  of  Training  Center,  Pough- 
keepsie (1881),  189. 

Morrow,  Jas.  B..  Assn.  Director,  Hali- 
fax, N.   S.    (1872),   89,  90. 

Morse,  Anthony,  Peter,  John,  Jona- 
than, 1. 

,  Jedediah  (1),  makes  use  of  Pen- 
tateuch as  Justice  of  Peace  (1805), 
1-2,  24. 

,    Jedediah     (2),     Yale     graduate 

(1783),  2;  father  Amer.  geography, 
3-4;  pastor  (1789-1820),  promoter 
of  many  church  and  Christian  so- 
cieties, U.  S.  Indian  commissioner  to 
N.   Amer.   Indians,  2-11. 

,  Jedediah,  Mrs.,  6,  8,  9,  11. 

,  Oliver  C,  Yale  graduate   (1868), 

student  and  Sunday  school  worker 
in  Germany,  105  ;  Gen.  Sec.  Cleve- 
land Assn.  and  Sec  Morse  family 
letter  league.  228 ;  Sec.  N.  Y.  State 
Comm.  (1886),  Sec  Springfield 
Seel.  School    (1887),  259. 

,  Rebecca  Finley,  Bible  teacher  and 

active  in  Christian  work,  a  leader 
in  Working  Girls'  Clubs,  N.  Y., 
229-30  ;  an  organizer  Harlem  Y.  W. 
C.  A.,  N.  Y.  ;  chairman  N.  Y.  State 
Y.  W.  C.  A.,  Comm.  leader  in  For. 
work  Y.  W.   C.  A.,  230-32. 

,    Richard   C.    (1).    Yale   graduate 

(1812),  and  Andover  Theo.  Sem'y 
(1817),  12-14;  begins  issue  of  N.  Y. 
Observer,  15-16 ;  marriage,  16 ;  bis 
home  Sunday  school,  19  ;  50th  year 
Yale  class  meeting,  39 ;  belief  in 
educational  benefit  of  travel,  53 ; 
meets  McBurney  (1862),  57;  evan- 
gelical alliance  member,  481  ;  death 
(1868),   at   Kissingen,   (Germany,    58. 

,  R.  C,  Mrs.  heredity  and  mar- 
riage, 16 ;  last  illness,  21 ;  death 
(1851),  at  Paris.  22. 


INDEX 


537 


Morse,  Richard  C.  (2).  birth.  18  :  school 
aud  academy,  18-30 ;  Yale  College, 
31-46 ;  vocational  preparation,  47- 
55  :  a  teacher,  48  ;  theo.  stud.,  49  ; 
journalist  A^.  Y.  Observer,  52-61  ; 
Asun.  Monthly,  61-68 ;  joins  N.  Y. 
Assn.  (1867),  59;  chairman  of  Open 
Air  comm.,  59 :  early  Assn.  friend- 
ships, 69,  70  ;  first  State  Conv..  72  ; 
first  and  second  Int.  Convs.  (1870), 
(1871),  73-80;  physical  breakdown 
avoided,  82 ;  first  Sees.  Conf.,  81  ; 
resigns  as  editor.  81-2  ;  visiting  Sec, 
83-92 ;  report  of  1872,  93-4 ;  Euro- 
pean tour,  96-100 ;  World  Conf.. 
(1872),  lUl-5  ;  Int.  Gen.  Sec' ship 
accepted,  105-8  ;  correspondence  and 
pamphlets,  110 ;  first  Year  Books 
(1873-4),  123,  137;  first  Assn,  visit 
to  Yale  (1874),  142;  with  Moody 
in  N.  Y.  C.  meetings,  154-9 ;  mar- 
riage, home  and  home  office,  196-8, 
314-19 ;  connection  with  presbytery 
and  chh.,  213  :  family  letter  league, 
228  ;  Rebecca  F.  Morse,  229-32  ;  trip 
to  Palestine.  277-81  ;  25th  anni- 
versary, 298 ;  talks  with  Mott  and 
McBurney,  300-8 ;  varied  activities, 
319-23  ;  permanent  fund  and  first 
world  tour,  418-24  ;  40th  anniver- 
sary. 463 ;  second  world  journey, 
464-82  :  summer  schools.  483-7  ;  per- 
iodicals. 487-94  ;  resignation  of  1912 
declined,  accepted,  509,  514,  518, 
519 ;  consulting  Gen.  Sec.  for  life, 
521. 

,  R.  C,  Mrs.,  marriage,  home-life, 

chh.  for.  work,  196-8,  306,  315-7. 
324-5,  464,  467.  473  ;  tourist  experi- 
ences, 222-3,  281,  464  ;  Bible  Topic 
Tarty,  225-7  ;  friendships,  293-4,  298, 
324-5,  467.  473. 

,    Samuel    F.    B.,    Yale    graduate 

(1810),  artist  and  inventor  of  elec- 
tro-magnetic telegraph.  11,  20  ;  wel- 
comes delegates  to  N.  Y.  State  Conv. 
(1870),  79;  lecture  upon  as  in- 
ventor.  476. 

,  Sidney  E.,  Yale  graduate  (1811), 

editor  Boston  Recorder  (1816),  edit- 
or Morse's  "School  Geography,"  in- 
ventor of  cerography,  editor  and 
one  of  the  founders  of  The  N.  Y.  Ob- 
server^ 11,  12,  14-15,  19,  26,  53. 

.    Sidney    E.,    Jr.,    Yale    graduate 

(1856).  proprietor  and  publisher  N. 
Y.  Observer  (1867),  53,  61. 

.    Verranus,    Int.    Comm.    member 

and  editor    (1871-5),   94. 

,      William      H.,      Yale     graduate 

(1867).  Class  Sec,  at  30th  year  meet- 
ing. 320. 

Morse's  "Geography."  3,  4,  11,  12. 

Moscow,    Russia    (1907),   477,    482. 

Motley.   J.   Lothrop.   38. 

Mott,  John  R.  First  decade  of  con- 
nection with  Association  Student 
Work :  at  Cornell,  a  Sophomore 
(1885-6),  pres.  Cornell  Assn..  351; 
Mt.  Hermon  Conf.  (1886),  353;  one 
of  four  Stud.  Volunteers  offering  to 
visit  colleges,  363;  Int.  Stud.  Sec. 
Northfield  Conf.  (1888),  356-7; 
chairman  Stud.  Vol.  Movement,  372- 
3,  377;  chief  Stud.  Sec.  (1890),  289, 
357 ;  Morning  Watch  Message 
(1893),  296;  presides  at  Stud.  Vol. 
Convs.  (1891  and  '94),  378-9;  Int. 
Gen.  Sec'yship  proposed  (1895),  300- 
4 ;    becomes    Int.    Assoc.    Gen.    Sec. 


(1901-11),  431-2;  suggests  program 
Jubilee  Conv.  (1901),  438;  effective 
speech  Jubilee  Int.  Conv.  (1904). 
449 ;  Int.  Comm.  bldg..  455 ;  aids 
Canadian  Nat'l  organization  (19U6- 
'17),  497-503;  at  Jubilee  World 
Conf.,  London  (1894),  244,  248-9. 
Period  of  special  service  to  World's 
Student  Christian  Federation :  first 
world  tour  (1895-7),  300-302; 
World's  Stud.  Christian  Fed'n  Confs., 
Williatustown  (1897),  322,  382-3; 
Eisenach  (1898),  Versailles  (1900), 
Sorij,  Denmark  (1902),  Zeist,  Hol- 
land (1905),  Tokyo,  Japan  (1907), 
384-5 ;  Australasian  Fed'n.  Tour 
(1903).  423-6;  South  African  Tour, 
428 ;  Pacific  Tour  for  Fed'n  and 
For.  Assn.  Work  (1907),  464  71. 
Third  decade  of  Association  and 
world  service:  chairman  (1910).  of 
Edinburgh  Decennial  For.  Missy. 
Conf.  and  of  its  Continuation  Comm., 
503,  473;  calls  and  presides  (1914) 
at  Negro  Stud.  Christian  Conv.,  At- 
lanta, 404  ;  becomes  Gen.  Sec.  Int. 
Comm.  (1915).  388,  506-20;  reli- 
gious work  emphasized  (1916).  273; 
becomes  also  Gen.  Sec.  Nat'l  War 
Work    Council    (1917),    311. 

Mt.  Blanc  ascent  (1872),  99-100. 

Mt.  Etna   (1902).  422. 

Mt.  Hermon  Conf.,  see  Stud.  Confs. 

Mt.  Hermon  School  founded,  346. 

Mt.  Vernon,  4. 

Muhlenburg,  Wm.,  Moody  Hippodrome 
meetings,   158. 

Mukden,   Manchuria    (1907).   476,   482. 

Munford,  Wm.  P.,  veteran  Assn.  leader 
at  South,  125;  at  Int.  Conv.  (1874). 
135. 

Munhall,  Lea  W.,  Indiana  State  Sec. 
(1875).  150,  199. 

Munn,  John  P.,  chairman  Int.  R.  R. 
Comm..   295. 

Murray,  Wm.  D.,  Int.  Comm.  member 
(1891),  on  college  work;  on  other 
service  committees  twenty-four  years 
(1917)  295;  vice-chairman  (1912) 
for  Int.  For.  Work,  433. 

Myers,  Geo.,  Depot  Master  (1872)  in 
Cleveland  R.  R.  Work,  112. 

Myoshi,  Justice,  Japan  (1888),  guest 
in   New   York  City,   317. 


Nagasaki,  Japan   (1907),  471. 
Napier's  "I'euinsular  War."  28. 
Napoleon  I,  history  of,  28. 

,  Louis.  23. 

Nast,       Wm.,       German-Amer.      Work 

(1875),    142. 
Nathan,    missionary    Tangier     (1902), 

National     Academy     of     Design,     11  ; 

(1870).   327. 
.    Assn.    Sec.    of    France     (1901), 

439. 

Board  of  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  see  Y.  W. 

C.  A. 

Canadian  Conv.  and  constitution, 

Winnipeg   (1912).  497-9;  meeting  of 
1914  postponed.  515. 

Comm.     Germany,     chairman     at 

Jubilee   Conv.    (1901),  438. 

Conf.,      Chinese,      at      Shanghai 

(1907),  466. 

Council,  English,  suggested  World 

Conf.  (1881),  220;  its  Geo.  Williams 
bldg.,  481. 


538 


INDEX 


National  Federal  Council  of  Chhs.  in 
China,   proposed    (1907),  473. 

Sees.  (Orient)   in  council   (1907), 

468. 

Swedish  Alliance,  pres.  at  World's 

Jubilee   Conf.    (1905),   502. 

War   Work    Council    (1917),    516, 

520,   see  also   U.   S.   Christian  Com- 
mission. 

Women's  Stud.  Movements  ad- 
mitted to  World's  Stud.  Christian 
Fed'n,  469. 

Navy  Work,  see  Army  and  Navy. 

Negro  Assn.,  see  Colored. 

Negro  Christian  Stud.  Conv.  at  Atlanta 

(1914),  404. 
"Negro    Life    at    the    South,"    by    Int. 

Stud.  Sec.  Weatherford  (1910),  403. 
Nepean.      Sir     Evan,      Gov.      Bombay 

(1814),  10. 
Newell,  Samuel,  one  of  first  five  Amer. 

for.  missionaries  (1814),  9,  10. 
New  England  Assns.  in  1872,  87-8. 
New   Gymnastics  by   Luther   Gulick   at 

Int.   Conv.    (1889),  266. 
New   Haven  Assn.    (1917),   343. 
New  Orleans   (1906),  464. 
New  Roxbury,  Mass.,  1. 
N.  Y.  City  Assn.,  20,  21,  23,  411.     See 

also    R.    R.    McBurney    and    Wm.    E. 

Dodge,  Jr. 
N.    Y.    Central    Federation    of    R.    R. 

Assns      304 
N.    Y.    Central    R.    R.    Terminal,    456. 

See  also  Grand  Central  Station. 
N.  Y.  Evening  Mail,  487. 
N.  Y.  Ledger,  28. 
N.  Y.  Observer,  see  Observer. 
N.  Zealand   (1903),  423. 
Niagara    Bible    Conf.,    see   Bible    Work. 
Nikko,  Japan  (1907),  469. 
Nikolaivitch.       Alexis,       Grand     Duke 

(1907).  478. 
Ninde,    Henry    S.,    veteran    Gen.    Sec, 

121 ;    Int.    Office    Sec,    an   editor   of 

"The  Hand  Book"    (1893),  293. 
Niwa,  first  Japanese  Gen.  Sec,  317. 
Northeastern     College,     Boston     Educ. 

Sec,  Frank  P.  Speare,  pres.   (1917), 

271. 
Northfleld  Gen.  Confs.,  called  by  D.  L. 

Moody,   346. 

Seminary  founded.  346. 

Stud.  Confs.  of  '87.  '88,  '95,  '97, 

355-60,    365-8,    303,    321,    483  ;    for 
delegates,  371 ;  athletics,  357-8. 

Northrup,   Cyrus  D.,  professor  at   Yale 

(1879),   332. 
Nott,  Sam'l,  one  of  the  first  five  Amer. 

for.  missionaries,  9. 
Nova  Scotia  Assns.   (1872),  89,  90. 

Ober-Ammergau  Passion  Play  (1900 
and  1910),  500. 

Ober,  Chas.  K.,  veteran  Sec,  122 ; 
Williams  Coll.  graduate  (1882),  as- 
sistant Sec.  N.  Y.  Assn.  and  State 
Sec,  Mass.  (1883),  171-2,  332;  Int. 
Stud.  Sec  (1884),  171 ;  called  to  Osaka 
(1885),  366;  promotes  Mt.  Ilermon 
Stud.  Conf.  (1886)  and  succeeding 
Northfleld  Confs.,  345-63  :  induces  J. 
R.  Mott  to  become  a  fellow-Stud. 
Sec.  (1888).  356-7;  promotes  Stud. 
Volunteer  Movement,  372-8 ;  chief 
Int.  Stud.  Sec  (1888-90),  356.  369; 
Int.  Field  Sec.  (1890),  builds  up 
Field  Dept.  South,  West,  East,  289- 
91 ;  finds  and  calls  first  Int.  Indian 


Dept.  Sec,  405-6;  also  Int.  Field 
Dept.  Sec,  Bruno  Hobbs,  506-7  ;  as 
"Discoverer  of  Sees."  builds  up  Fel- 
lowship I'lan,  joins  staff  of  Int. 
Sec'l  Bureau,  fosters  Summer  Train- 
ing Schools,  enlists  Paul  Super  as 
an   associate.   262-3,   485. 

Ober,  Frank  W..  veteran  Sec,  122 ; 
Gen.  Sec,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  Omaha, 
Neb.,  editor  of  Men  and  Assn.  Men, 
490-1  ;    Int.    Sec.    and    editor,    492-3. 

Oberlin  Univ.,  359,  402. 

Observer,  N.  Y.,  and  its  founders,  15, 
16 ;  its  assistant  editor,  52-61. 

Okayama  Orphanage,  Japan  (1907), 
470. 

Okuma.  Count,  a  host  of  World  Stud. 
Federation  Conf.  at  Tokyo  (1907), 
470. 

Olandt,  Claus,  Int.  German  speaking 
Sec,   185. 

O'Neil,  Letitia  G.,  see  Mrs.  Darlington. 

Ontario,  Canadian  province  of,  its  Staff 
of  Assn.  Gen.  Sees,  in  1873,  495. 

Oostersund,   Sweden   (1888),  240. 

Orr,  Robert  A.,  veteran  Gen.  Sec,  121  ; 
leader  in  Sec.  Conf.,  124 ;  as  Bible 
teacher  and  worker,  135  ;  Bible  work 
paper  at  World's  Conf.  (1878),  174; 
and  Int.  Conv.  (1877),  216;  an  es- 
sential member  of  the  Bible  Topic 
Party  (1876-91),  224-6;  advocate  of 
For.  Assn.  Work,  365-6. 

,   William,    Int.    Educational    Sec 

(1916),    271. 

Osaka  Assn.  bldg.  fund  secured,  366 ; 
visited  by  Monroe,  Swift,  and  Wish- 
ard,  237,  366. 

Oscar  Bernadotte,  Prince  of  Sweden, 
delegate  at  Jubilee  World's  Conf., 
London  (1894).  248  ;  host  of  World's 
Stud.  Fed'n  delegates  at  Vadstena 
(1895),  300;  member  of  World's 
Comm.  and  delegate  to  Jubilee 
World  Conf..   Paris,   1905,  501. 

,  King  of  Sweden,  invites  to  Stock- 
holm World  Conf.   (1888),  239. 

Osgood,  Lucy,  2. 

Outreach  of  Stud.  W^ork  and  whole 
Assn.  movement  into  non-Christian 
lands,   362-89. 

Oxford  Univ.,  England,  entertains 
World  Stud.  Christian  Fed'n  Conf. 
(1911),  371. 

Pacific  Grove  Stud.  Conf.   (1906),  464. 

Pagopago  visited   (1907),  423. 

Paine,    Silas    II.,    host    of   early    Silver 

Bay    Confs.    and   generous   promoter 

of  Eastern  Sec'l  continuation  school, 

483-4. 
Palestine  visited    (1892),   277-81. 
Panama  Canal  zone    Assn.  work  during 

building  of  Canal,  508. 
Paotingfu.  China  (1907),  476. 
Paris  Assn.  bldg.   (1894),  250. 

Basis,  see  Basis  and  Evangelical. 

Univ.   (1889),  371. 

Park,  Edwards  A..  30,  52. 
Park  St.  Chh.,  Boston.  5,  8. 

Parker.  Thos.  F.,  and  Lewis,  promoters 
of  Industrial  Assn.  Work,  399. 

Parlor  Confs..  Ilarrisburg  (1874  and 
'75),  128-133,  138-9;  Fort  Wayne, 
Ind.  (1876).  139:  Baltimore  (1875), 
151;  Chicago  (1876).  151.  191.  2.55; 
21  held  (1877-81).  179,  204-5,  255; 
succeeded   by   dinner   meetings,    207. 


INDEX 


539 


Parsons,  Chief  Justice,  8. 

,  Henry  M.,  7. 

rassion    Play,    Ober-Ammergau    (1900 

and    1910),    500. 
I'atton.    Francis    L.,    Int.    Conv.    Bible 

Topic  (1889),  217. 
Peak,    Sarah,   1. 
Pearson,   Eliphalet,  5. 
Peliing,  siege  of,  311. 

Univ.  Assn.,  352. 

Pennsylvania   R.    R.   Terminal,    Phila., 

393. 
Periodicals    of    Int.    Conv.,     Quarterly 
and      Assn.      Monthly,      Watchman, 
Younq    Men's   Era,   Men,   and   Assn. 
Men,   487-94. 
Perkins,  Geo.  W.,  Int.  Comm.  member, 
donor    to    Race    Relationship    Fund, 
403. 
Permanent  Fund,  see  Int.  Comm. 
Perrot,  Max.  veteran  World  Conf.  dele- 
gate,  Geneva,    Switz'd,    105,   238. 

Peterhof  Palace,  Russia,  interview  with 
Czar,  477-9,  482. 

Petersburg  (or  Petrograd),  Russia, 
464.  475,   477-80.  482. 

Pettee,  J.  A.,  Okayama  orphanage 
(1907),  470. 

Phelps,  Austin,  professor  Andover 
Theo.   Sem'y,  30,   52. 

,      Wm.      Lyon,      Yale      graduate 

(1887)  ;  Gen.  Sec.  Yale  Assn.   (1887- 
8),  339. 

Philadelphian  Soc,  Princeton,  161-3, 
329. 

Phildius,  Christian,  Gen.  Sec.  Berlin 
Christlicher  Verein  Junger  Manner 
(1883-96)  welcomes  World  Conf., 
(1884),  221:  at  Int.  Conv.  (1885), 
200  :  at  World  Comm.  Plenar  meet- 
ing, Geneva  (1886),  237-8:  second 
Gen.  Sec.  World  Comm.  (1896),  248; 
at  World  Conf.  Basle  (1898),  313, 
438 :  at  Int.  Jubilee  Conv.,  Boston 
(1901),  238-9:  at  World  Comm. 
Plenar  meeting,  London  (1907), 
481;  and  Vienna   (1911),  503. 

Philip,  John  W.,  Admiral,  Int.  Comm. 
member  (1898),  presides  at  Army 
and  Navy  Session  Int.  Conv.  (1899), 
810-311. 

Philippines  (1907).  465,  482. 

Phillips.  Wendell,  33. 

Physical  Work,  see  Fourfold  Work. 

Pictou,    Nova   Scotia    (1872),   89. 

Pierce,  Lyman,  Gen.  Sec.  Washington, 
D.  C.,  Australasia,  Pittsburgh,  San 
Francisco,   427. 

Pine  Ridge  Indian  Agency,  406. 

Pioneer  in  Christian  social  service,  78. 

Piquet.  Paul,  Geneva,  Switz'd,  member 
World's  Comm.    (1878),   175. 

Piatt,  Edmund  P.,  pres.  Poughkeepsie, 
N.  Y.  Assn.,  139 ;  chairman  N.  Y. 
State  Comm.,  305. 

Playground  Movement  and  military 
training  promoted  by  Assn.  Physi- 
cal  Dept.,   268. 

Politeness,   Chesterfield  on,   3. 

Polity  of  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  metropolitan 
organization  formed,  new  agency  of 
supervision,  251-2 :  Int.  and  State 
Work  relations  defined,  441,  443-55  ; 
Canadian  Xat'l  organization  formed, 
497-500. 

Polk,  Jas.  K.,  nominated  for  presidency 
of  U.  S.    (1844).  18. 

Polytechnic  Institute,  London  (1885), 
347. 

Pomona  College,   Cal.,  founder  of,   42. 


Pond,  Moses  W.,  Amer.  delegate  from 

Boston  to  World  Conf.    (1872),  102. 

Poona.   India    (1903),  422. 

I'ort    Arthur,    Manchuria    (1907),    476. 

I'orter,    David    R.,    graduate    Bowdoin 

College,  Rhodes  Scholar,  Oxford  Int. 

Comm.  Sec.  Boys'  Work,  Senior  Stud. 

Sec.   (1915),  361. 

,   II.  Kirke,  pres.  Pittsburgh  Assn. 

(1870),  chairman  Business  Comm. 
Int.  Conv.  (1870),  75;  chairman 
Penn.  State  Comm.  and  pres.  Int. 
Conv.  (1873).  128;  Int.  Comm. 
member  (1875-1917),  141;  tribute 
to  Chairman  Brainerd,  282. 

,     Noah     H.,     professor     at     Yale 

(1858-62),    46.    52:    pres..    favorable 
to    Stud.    Assn.    Work    (1875),    142; 
and  to  Yale  Assn.  bldg.,  333. 
Portland,     Oregon,     Assn.,     Harry     W. 
Stone,  Gen.  Sec.  (1907),  464-5. 

Test   of   active   membership,   see 

Evangelical. 
Potter,    Henry    C,    favors    Moody    and 

Sankey  meetings   (1876),  158. 
Pourtales.   Count   Jacques,   pres.   Paris, 

France,   Assn.    (1907),   477. 
Prague  Univ..  Austria   (1889),  371. 
Pratt,    Charles,    founder    of    Pratt    In- 
stitute,  B'klyn    (1887),  interested  in 
Assn.    Educational    Work     (1890-1), 
268-9. 

,   Charles   M.,    Int.   Comm.   trustee, 

contributing  Jubilee  Permanent  fund 
(1902),  421. 
,  Frederic  B.,  Int.  Comm.  mem- 
ber, chairman  Educational  Comm., 
269,  290  ;  secures  Sec.  of  Dept.  270  ; 
chairman  I'hysical  Dept..  290 ;  of 
Athletic  League  (1895),  267;  tem- 
porary Int.  chairman  (1894-5),  290- 
6  :  contributor  to  Jubilee  Permanent 
fund.  421. 

,   George   D.,    Int.   Comm.   member, 

chairman  Physical  Dept.  Comm.  and 
Athletic  League,  296. 
Pratt  Institute,  Brooklyn.  268. 
Prayer    meeting    daily,    23rd    St.    bldg. 
(1870-1),  68;  Int.  Comm.  office,  318- 
19. 
Prentiss,      Elizabeth,      contributor      to 

Ansn.  Monthly.  63.   65. 
Presbytery,    N.    Y.   Third,    New    School, 

R.  C.  M.  licensed  and  ordained,  51. 
Presbyterian  For.   Miss'y  Board,  L.  D. 
Wishard's  connection  with,  300,  382. 
Prescott,  Wm.  H.,  historian,  38. 
Presidents  of  U.  S.,  attitude  to  Assn., 

80. 
Press,   Assn..   see  Assn.   Press. 
Prime,   S.   Ireneus,   senior  editor  N.   Y. 
Observer    (1867-69),   53,   54,   56,   62. 
,  E.  D.  G..  assoc.  editor  H.  Y.  Ob- 
server  (1867-69),   53. 
Prince      of      Wales       (Edward      VII) 

Thanksgiving  Day,  90. 
Princeton  Coll.  and  Univ.,  11. 
,  Assn.,  see  Stud.  Assns. 

Philadelphian     Soc,     becomes     a 

Stud.   Assn.,    161-2,   329. 

Revival    (1876).    161,   345. 

Stud.  For.  Miss'y  Soc,  362. 

Theological  Seminary,  49. 

Problem   of    Int.   Comm.    Chairmanship 

(1891-5),    274-99. 

Gen.    Sec'ship    (1895-1915),    300- 

4 ;    two   Assoc.    Sees..    431-2 ;    second 
Gen.    Sec,    514.    517-20. 

Proctor,    Governor   Vermont,   supporter 
Industrial  Assn,  W'ork,  399. 


540 


INDEX 


Provincial  Convs.,  merge  Into  Cana- 
dian Nat'l  oi-gan.,  498.  See  also  Int. 
and    State. 

Publication  Dept.,  see  Assn.  Press,  273. 

Puritan  meeting-house,  63. 

Putterlll,  John  H.,  Sec.  London,  Eng- 
land, Assn.,  317 ;  at  Jubilee  Int. 
Conv.   (1901),  439. 

Pyne,  Moses  Taylor,  Int.  Comm.  mem- 
ber,  192. 

Pyramids,  Egypt  (1892),  278. 

Quarterly,    published    by    Int.    Comm. 

(1866-69),   60,   487. 
Qulnsigamond  Lake,  Mass.   (1860),  37. 

Race  Relationship  Fund,  to  promote 
Negro  Assn.   Work,   403-4. 

Railroad  bldgs.,  see  Buildings. 

Confs.,  first  two  (1877, '79),  391-2. 

Railroad   Work  : 

At  Int.  Convs.   (1873),  118;   (1874), 

135;    (1875),   141. 
Begun,   112-5. 
Bldgs.,  393,  458. 

Compared   with   Clubhouse,   898-400. 
Expansion,  Confs.,  membership  cam- 
paign,  391-5. 
In  N.  Y.  City    (1875),   151-3,  390. 
In   World  War.   312. 
Int.   Conv.    (1904),  451. 
Int.   Sec,  391. 
Sees.,  392-4,  506. 

Ramabai,   Pundita,    India    (1902),   422. 

Ramsay,    David,    historian,    4. 

Randolph  and  Macon  College,  at  Mt. 
Hermon  Conf.    (1886),  351. 

,  Joseph  P.,  44. 

Rea,   Samuel,  pres.  Penn.  R.  R.,  399. 

Reasons,  True,  5. 

Recorder,   Boston,   5,  11,   14-16. 

Records,  Bureau  of,  Int.  Comm.  (1916), 
440. 

Red  Cross,   $100,000,000  fund,  430. 

Red    Sea    (1902),   422. 

Reed,  David  Allen,  founder  Springfield 
School.  258. 

Referendum  and  Initiative,  Int.  Conv. 
(1910),    463. 

Relationships,  local  and  supervisory 
agencies.  Int.  and  State  supervision, 
251-3,  443-59  ;  supervision  with  and 
without  authority.  252  ;  laymen  and 
employed  officers,  70,  261,  448,  449, 
503  ;  Chh.  and  Assn.,  denominational 
and  interdenominat'l.  211-15,  501- 
2  ;  City  and  Stud.  Assns.,  193,  213, 
330-1,   342-3,  371-2. 

Religious  Assn.  Work,  see  Fourfold 
Work. 

— —  journalism  attempted,  54. 

Remington,  R.  K.,  Int.  Comm.  member 
(1874),   115,   172. 

Renevier,  Prof.,  105. 

Reorganization  of  Int.  Conv.  and 
Comm.    (1913  and  1916),   511-20. 

Resignations,  of  R.  C.  M.  as  editor, 
81-3;  as  Gen.  Sec,  509.  514,  518- 
19 ;  of  Cephas  Braiuerd  as  chair- 
man. 274,  281-7  ;  of  L.  D.  Wishard, 
380  ;  of  C.  J.  Hicks,  434. 

Reunion  Presbyterian  Old  and  New 
School,   52. 

Revival  of  1858,  30,  330 ;  Princeton 
(1876),  151,  345. 

Reynolds,  James  B..  Yale  graduate 
(1884),  300;  pros.  Yale  Assn.  (1883- 
4),  worker  for  Yale  Assn.  building 
(1882-5),    333;     on    Yale    graduate 


comm.  (1883-1915),  335;  visitor 
European  univs.,  371. 

Rhees,  W.  J.,  veteran  Assn.  Conv.  dele- 
gate   (1851-1901),   442. 

Rice,  Luther,  one  of  first  five  Amer. 
for.  missionaries,  9. 

Riggs,  Alfred  L.,  missionary  N.  Amer. 
Indians,  405. 

Riley,  L.  W.,  stud,  delegate  Mt.  Her- 
mon Conf.  (1886),  one  of  four  of- 
fering to  carry  Stud.  Volunteer  mes- 
sage to  other  colleges,  363. 

Ripley,  E.  P.,  R.  R.  pres.,  promoter 
R.  R.  Work.  399. 

Ritchie,  Frank  T.,  Int.  Sec.  Boys'  and 
Community   Work,    416. 

Roberts,  Albert  E.,  Int.  Senior  Sec. 
County  or  Rural  Work,  415. 

,    George    B.,    pres.    Penn.    R.    R., 

promotes  R.  R.  Assn.  bldg.,  Phila. 
(1894),    393,    399. 

,  Peter,  Int.  Sec.  Industrial  Dept., 

Immigration    Work,    397. 

,    Robert    J.,    Physical    Dept.,    see 

"Roberts'  Dumb-bell  Drill,"  27,  263- 
4. 

Robinson,  Edgar  M.,  Int.  Senior  Sec. 
Boys'    Work    (1900-17),    413. 

,  Stuart,  presents  Bible  Topic  Int. 

Conv.  (1876),  first  donor  to  fund 
for  Int.  Colored  Work  Sec,  216,  402. 

Rochester  Univ.  Assn.,  see  Stud.  Assn. 

Rockefeller,  John  D.,  and  John  D.,  Jr., 
very  substantial  donors  Int.  Work, 
206,  208  :  25  per  cent  of  the  total 
million  dollar  fund  (1901-2),  419- 
20 ;  50  per  cent  of  the  San  Fran- 
cisco earthquake-fire  building  fund 
(1906),    430. 

Rodgers,  John.  N.  Y.  City,  6. 

Rome,  Italy  (1872),  97,  98;  (1891), 
278. 

Romeyn,  John,  6. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  Pres.,  sympathetic 
cooperation  Army  and  Navy  Work, 
311  ;  San  Francisco  bldg.  canvass 
(1906),  430. 

Rosenwald.  Julius,  most  substantial 
donor  to  Negro  Assn.  bldg.  funds  in 
thirteen   cities    (1906-17),   404. 

Rougemont,  Alfred,  member  World's 
Comm.,  Geneva  (1878),  175. 

Round  Top,  Northfield,  359. 

Rouse,  Ruth,  Sec.  Cooperating  Comm. 
World's   Stud.    Christian   Fed'n.   384. 

Rowland,  L.  P.,  veteran  librarian  and 
Sec,  Boston  (1857-71),  Phila., 
(1872-77),   56,   80. 

Rural  Work,  see  County. 

Russo-Japanese  War,  Japanese  Army 
Work,   Manchuria,   311,   482. 

Ryde  England  Assn.  Home  (1875), 
148. 


Sabbath     Schools,     objected     to,     but 

founded  (1816).  13.  14. 

observance,  family,  19. 

Sage,  Russell,  458'. 

— ■ — ,  Russell,  Mrs.,  vice-pres.  Women's 

Auxiliary,  417  ;  donor  of  Int.  Comm. 

bldg.     and     other     very     substantial 

gifts,  458-60. 
St.    Louis   Assn.    reorganized    (1873-4), 

125. 
St.   Paul's   Cathedral,    London,   Jubilee 

World's  Conf.    (1894).   244. 
St.    Petersburg    (Petrograd)     Assn.    or 

Mayak   (1899-1917).  236,  see  James 

Stokes  and   F.   Gaylord. 


INDEX 


541 


Salisbury,  Marquis,  British  Premier  In 
House  of  Lords  (1884),  223. 

Sallmon,  \V.  H..  Yale  graduate  (18t)4), 
Yale  Assn.   Sec.    (1894-7),  339. 

Samoa  visited    (1903),  423. 

Sanders,  Franlt  K..  organizer  first  Stud. 
Assn.  in  Asia.  352,  365. 

San  Francisco  Assn.,  180-1,  202-2,  423, 
430. 

Sanijey,  Ira  D..  becomes  assoc.  of  D. 
L.  Moody   (1870-71),  74. 

Santiago,  Battle,  Spanish-Amer.  War 
(1898),  and  World's  Conf.  (1898), 
312-13. 

Sarasin,  Warnery,  chairman  World's 
Conf.  (1898),  and  World's  Comm., 
Geneva   (19U4-11),  313. 

Sautter.  Em.,  Nat'l  Assn.  Sec.  France, 
delegate  Int.  Jubilee  Conf.  (1901), 
439 ;  World  Stud.  Fed'n  Conf., 
Tokyo  (1907).  477;  third  Gen.  Sec. 
World's  Comm.  (1910),  resigns  vot- 
ing membership  on  World's  Comm. 
(1911),  and  succeeds  Col.  Fermaud 
as  Exec.  Gen.  Sec.  World's  Comm., 
503-4. 

Sayford,  Samuel  M.,  Gen.  Sec,  Syra- 
cuse, N.  Y.,  122 ;  State  Sec,  Mass. 
(1880),  171:  evangelist  at  Amherst 
and  Yale  (1883).  335. 

Scandinavian    Stud.    Movement,   380. 

Scawfell   Pikes,  England   (1872),  100. 

Schenck,  Fredk.  B.,  pres.  B'klyn,  N.  Y., 
Assn.  (1889-98)  ;  Int.  Comm.  treas. 
(1893-13)  ;  member  of  For.  Work 
and  other  Comms.,  288,  294. 

Schieffelin.  Wm.  Jay,  Int.  Comm.  mem- 
ber, chairman  Colored  Work  Comm., 
296. 

School  for  Christian  Workers,  Spring- 
field,  founded    (1885),   258. 

Schultess,  F.,  Swedish  member  World's 
Comm.   (1878),  176. 

Scott,  Thomas,  pres.  Penn.  R.  R.  and 
donor   to   Int.   R.   R.   Work,   391. 

.  Walter,  poems  and  novels,  28,  49. 

Scylla  and  Charybdis,  passed  through 
(1902),  422. 

Seaman's  Friend  Soc  ;  founder.  Ward 
Stafford,    13. 

Seattle   (1907),  464. 

Secretarial  Bureau  of  Int.  Comm.  grow- 
ing out  of  correspondence  (1870), 
80,  111  ;  partner  of  Sees.  Conf.,  E. 
Uhl  as  Sec'l  Bureau  Sec.  (1876), 
119-20 ;  Moody's  sympathy  and  co- 
operation, 178 ;  Work  Text,  121  ; 
apprenticeship  method.  189-90  ;  J.  T. 
Bowne,  Sec'l  Sec.  (1883),  190;  suc- 
ceeded by  John  Glover  (1879-1917), 
260-2,  429  ;  Summer  Schools,  Fellow- 
ship Plan,  Training  Centers.  263. 

Secretarial  Training :  Sec'l  Bureau  be- 
gun (1870),  111;  Gen.  Sees.  Assn. 
(1871),  80-1;  Gen.  Sees.,  Conf.  of 
(1873),  118-23:  D.  L.  Moody's  tes- 
timony. 178 ;  Training  Schools  au- 
thorized, 188;  apprenticeship 
method,  188-9,  201  ;  Springfield 
Training  School,  258 ;  Fellowship 
Plan,  summer  confs.,  training  cen- 
ters. 263,  462-3 ;  Glover,  Ober, 
Kaighn,  262 ;  Chicago  School  and 
Col.,  262.  427  ;  Summer  Schools,  483- 
7,  510,  516. 

Secretaries'  Conf.,  see  Gen.  Sees. 

See,  Edwin  F.,  122,  Metropolitan  Gen. 
Sec.  Brooklyn,  258 ;  Bible  work 
leader,  272 ;  Int.  Conv.  delegate, 
437,  449, 


Seely,  Wm.  Wallace,  44,  323. 

Sellew,  Timothy  G.,  Int.  Comm.  mem- 
ber on  Asisn.  Monthly    82-3. 

Seoul,   Korea   (1907),   465. 

Severance,  L.  H..  layman  missionary 
visitor   (1907),  470. 

Seward.  Wm.  H.,  33. 

Shaftesbury.  Earl.  pres.  London  Assn. 
(1881,  1884),  218,  220.  223-4. 

Shanghai  Assn.  bldg.,  482. 

Centenary  Miss'y  Conf.,  471-4. 

,  China    (1907),  Js'at'i  Assn.  Conf. 

466. 

to    St.    Petersburg,    Berlin    and 

London.  475-82. 

Shantung,  China,  466. 

Sheaff,  Lang,  Gen.  Sec,  Cincinnati 
and  Cleveland,  Int.  R.  R.  visiting 
Sec.  (1875),  organizes  R.  R.  Assn. 
Work,  N.  Y.  and  other  cities,  113, 
151. 

Shedd,  W.  G.  T.,  30.  49. 

Shelton,  Don.  O.,  temporary  Int.  Bible 
Sec.    (1901),   273. 

Shepard,  Mrs.  Finley  J.,  vice-pres. 
Woman's  Auxiliary  and  substantial 
supporter  of  Int.  Army  and  A'avy 
and  other  work,  310,  417,  420. 

Sherwin,  Henry  A.,  pres.  Cleveland 
Assn.  and  chairman  of  its  R.  R. 
Comm.    (1872),   113. 

Shipp.  Fred  B.,  Int.  R.  R.  Sec.  and 
Business  Dept.  Sec.  394  ;  Exec.  Gen. 
Sec,  497,  506,  508 ;  on  Delegates' 
Comm.  World  Conf.  (1913),  504; 
secures  Dist.  Field  Dept.  Sees. 
(1913),  514,  515:  serves  Macfar- 
land  and  Fry  Commissions,  510-12, 
516-18. 

Ship,  Sully,  voyage  of  (1832),  20. 

Shipton,  W.  Edwin,  London  Assn.  Sec. 
(1850-81),  101;  at  World  Confs. 
(1872),  103-5;  (1875),  146-7; 
(1878),  174-6;  retires  from  office, 
218 ;    his   critical    views,    104. 

Short  campaign  fund,  organized  by  C. 
S.  Ward,  429,  465. 

Shorter    Catechism,    19. 

Shurtlefif.  Glen,  Gen.  Sec,  Cleveland, 
invites  and  leads  Niagara  Bible 
Conf.    (1887),  272.   321. 

Siangtan,  China,  outpost  Pres.  Mission 
in  China  (1907),  476. 

Siberian  Railway,  Harbin  to  Moscow 
(1907),   477-8. 

Silliman,  Benjamin,  2,  3. 

Silver  Bay  Sec'l  Continuation  School, 
see  Sec'l  Training. 

Sinclair,  David  A.,  Gen.  Sec,  Hamil- 
ton, Ont.  (1873),  121,  Dayton  (1874- 
1902),   135,  270. 

Sioux  Indian  Assns.,  404-5. 

Sisseton    Indian    Agency,    Dakota,   405. 

Skinner,  Thos.  H.,  25,  29,  49. 

Sleep  Acct.   of  R.   C.   M.    (1871-3).   82. 

Sloane,  Thos.  C,  Yale  graduate  (1868), 
member  Yale  Corporation  and  Yale 
Assn.  Graduate  Comm.,  338. 

,    William,    Yale    graduate    (1895), 

pres.  Yale  Assn.  (1894-5).  chairman 
of  its  Graduate  Comm.  (1900-15), 
339-40 ;  vice-chairman  Int.  Comm. 
and  chairman  Natl  War  Work  Coun- 
cil  (1917),  311. 

Smith.  E.  Burritt,  member  of  Comm.  of 
Twenty-one,  leader  of  its  minority 
in  Int.  Conv.    (1904),  448. 

,  Eugene,  36. 

,    Fred    B..    Int.    Comm.    Religious 

Work  Sec    (1899-1914),   leader  Men 


542 


INDEX 


and  Religion  movement  (1910-11), 
273 ;  In  Australia  and  S.  Africa, 
427-8;   Int.  Conv.    (l'J04),  450. 

Smith,  Henry  B.,  49,  52. 

,  W.  Hind,  Gen.  Sec.,  Manchester, 

England,  delegate  World  Conf. 
(1872),  104;  guest  of  Sees.  Conf. 
and  Int.  Conv.  (1874).  122,  134-5; 
at  World  Confs.  (1875,  '78,  '81), 
146-7,  172;  succeeds  Shipton  (1881), 
as  London  Sec,  218,  317. 

Social    Service,    see    Fourfold    Work. 

Sorabji    family,    India    (1902),    422. 

Soro,  Denmark,  WoBld  Christian  Stud. 
Fed'n  meeting   (1902),  384. 

S.   Africa,   visited  by   Int.   Sees.,   427-8'. 

Southern  Tours,  soon  after  Civil  War, 
by  Wm.  F.  Lee,  James  Stokes,  Geo. 
A.  Hall.  T.  K.  Cree,  112,  137,  144. 

Spanish   War    (1898),   309-13. 

Speare,  Frank  P..  Boston  Assn.  Edu- 
cational Sec.  and  pres.  Northeastern 
College.  271. 

Specialization  Era,  288-91. 

Speer.  Robert  E.,  leader  at  North- 
field  and  all  Stud.  Confs.  and  Stud. 
Vol.   Convs.,   302-3,   378. 

Spence,  A.  K.,  a  founder  Michigan 
Univ.  Assn.  (1857-8),  64;  at  Int. 
Convs.  (1868  and  1870).  and  secures 
resolution  favoring  Stud.  Assns., 
330. 

,  W.  W.,  host  of  Int.  Comm.  Par- 
lor Conf.,   Baltimore    (1875),    151. 

Spencer.  Selden  P..  leader  majority  of 
Comm.  Twenty-one  in  Int.  Conv. 
(1904),  448. 

Spiritual    or   Religious   Work,   271-3. 

Sprague.  Wm.  B.,  47. 

Springfield  School  and  College,  Int. 
Sees.,  Bowne  and  Gulick  and  State 
Sec,  O.  C.  Morse  become  Assn.  In- 
structors in  "School  for  Christian 
Workers"  (1885-7)  ;  Sec'l  Training 
School  separated  (1890),  258-9; 
Summer  School  for  Physical  Dept. 
Sees.,  266;  R.  C.  M.  a  trustee,  259, 
321  ;  bequest  of  McBurney,  325  ;  A. 
A.  Stagg  and  Arthur  Tibbetts  school 
students,  358,  407  ;  students  from 
Australia,   427. 

Spurgeon,  Chas.,  359. 

Stafford,  Ward,  promoter  of  city  mis- 
sions and  Sabbath  schools,  13. 

Stager,  Henry  W.,  beginner  of  R.  R. 
Assn.  Work.   113-4,  152. 

Stagg,  Alonzo  A.,  Yale  graduate 
(1888).  Yale  Assn.  Sec  (1888-90), 
at    Springfield    School,    339,    358-9. 

Starr,  Grosvenor  S.,  45. 

State  and  Int.  Relations,  see  Int.  and 
State  Work. 

State  and  Provincial  Convs.  and  their 
work  (1870-77),  thirty-one  State 
and  I'rovincial  Convs.  attended  by 
R.  C.  M.,  72,  78,  111-2;  124-5.  128- 
9  ;  two  kinds  of  State  Work,  115-8, 
138 ;  comparison  and  conclusion, 
170-71,  193-4  ;  later  phases,  275-8, 
413 ;  a  controversy  and  its  settle- 
ment, 440-55  ;  an  erratic  tendency 
corrected  (1889),  376;  Provincial 
Comma,  merge  in  Canadian  Nat'l 
Council.   497. 

Steamer  shaft   spliced  at  sea.   148-9. 

Stebbins,  Henry  H.,  Yale  graduate 
(1802),  classmate  and  roommate  R. 
C.  M..  41,  49 ;  lifelong  friend,  196, 
245.  323. 

Stedman,  Edmund  Clarence,  44. 


Stevens,  Geo.  W.,  pres.  Chesapeake 
and  Ohio  R.  R.,  friend  of  R.  R.  Assn. 
Work,  394,  399. 

Stewart,  Geo.,  Yale  graduate  and  Yale 
Assn.  Sec,  342. 

Stiles,  Robert,  Yale  graduate  and  Assn. 
Sec,  36,  125. 

Stockholm  Assn.    (1888),  239. 

Stockwell,  (Jrlin  R.,  first  R.  R.  Sec. 
Grand  Central,  New  York  (1878-82), 
122.  390-1. 

Stoddard.  Richard  Henry,  43. 

Stokes,   Anson   Phelps,  24. 

,  James,  60. 

,    James,    Jr.,    a    friend    of    R.    C. 

M.  from  boyhood.  24 ;  director  of 
N.  Y.  Assn.  and  member  Int.  Comm. 
(1869),  60.  61;  promoter  German- 
Amer.  Work,  138  ;  R.  R.  Work,  152  ; 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  Work,  227  :  Assn.  Work 
in  Europe  at  Paris  and  St.  Peters- 
burg. 233-4 ;  World  Comm.  member 
(1888).  241;  a  World  Assn.  jour- 
ney, 313 ;  vice-pres.  Jubilee  Int. 
Conv.  (1901)  and  promotes  at- 
tendance upon  it  from  fourteen 
countries,    438-9. 

Stone  Hall.  Northfield.  359. 

Stone,  Edward  C,  45. 

,     Harry    W.,     metropolitan    Gen. 

Sec,    Portland.    Oregon,    465. 

Storrs,   Richard  S..   32,  52,   196. 

Stowe.  Calvin  E.,  30. 

Straight,  Willard  D.,  at  Mukden 
(1907).   476. 

Stuart,  Geo.  H.,  chairman  Int.  Comm. 
(1860-66),  and  U.  S.  Christian 
Comm.  (1861-5),  pres.  Int.  Convs. 
(1859   and   1863),   74,   157. 

Studd,  Kynaston,  undergraduate  at 
Cambridge  Univ.  (1882),  344;  visit 
and  work  among  N.  Amer.  colleges 
(1885-6).  300,  347-8.  317;  history 
of  "Cambridge  Band,"  362. 

Student  Assns..  Rochester  Univ.  Assn., 
organized  (1862),  its  work  (1870), 
63-4.  330 ;  Pres.  Anderson  at  Int. 
Conv.  (1875).  143.  Wash,  and  Lee 
Univ.  Assn.,  64.  Univ.  of  Va.,  chap- 
lain Broadus  (1858).  330-1;  Robert 
Weidensall  (1872).  93.  331.  Univ. 
of  Michigan,  A.  K.  Spence  at  Int. 
Convs.  (1868-70),  64,  330-1;  women 
membership  (1870),  167.  Williams, 
C.  K.  Ober,  founder.  (1882).  332;  at 
N.  Eng.  Coll.  Conf.  (1883),  335; 
Stud,  delegates  Mass.  State  Conv. 
(1870),  thirteen  delegates  Mt.  Her- 
mon  Conf.  (1886),  351;  see  also 
Haystack  Meeting.  Amherst,  Stud, 
delegates'  Mass.  Conv.  (1870).  64; 
at  N.  Eng.  Coll.  Conf.  (1883).  335. 
Hanover  Coll.,  Ind..  at  Lowell  Int. 
Conv.  (1872),  L.  D.  Wishard,  95, 
161.  Emory  and  Henry  Coll..  Va., 
at  Lowell  Int.  Conv.  (1872),  W. 
R.  Lambuth.  96.  Yale,  first  Assn. 
visit  of  R.  C.  M.  (1874).  63.  142, 
163  ;  visits  resulting  in  Yale  Assn., 
its  building  and  Sec'ship,  329-45, 
351,  358 ;  co-operation  with  New 
Haven  Assn.  (1916-7),  342-3.  Prince- 
ton. I'hiladelphian  Soc  joins  and 
promotes  Stud.  Assn.  movement, 
161-4  ;  sends  delegates  to  all  N. 
Eng.  Coll.  Confs.  (1883-7)  ;  ten  dele- 
gates to  Mt.  Ilermon  Conf.,  351. 
Dartmouth,  at  N.  Eng.  Coll.  Conf. 
(1883).  335;  thirteen  delegates  to 
Mt.   Hermon   Conf.,   351.      Harvard, 


INDEX 


543 


visited  (1882),  332;  Assn.  formed 
(1886).  333.  412.  Cornell,  Mi- 
Gill.  Toronto,  Queens,  at  Mt.  lior- 
mon  Conf..  35.  Jaflfna  (Ceylon), 
Tuugchow,  I'^oochow.  I'eking  (China), 
Osaka,  Tokyo  (Japan),  352;  three 
Assns.  organized  in  Tokyo  (1S8S), 
370.  Intercoll.  movement,  sug- 
gested    by     W.     K.     Dodge,     103-9 ; 

C.  H.  Dodge,  chairman,  304 ;  de- 
velopment by  Int.  Comm.  and   Sees., 

D.  L.  Moody  and  Confs.,  343-61  ; 
relation  to  City  Assns.  as  fostering 
group,  193.  213,  330-1.  Assn  Move- 
ment a  world  power.  385-1)  :  4CU-70  : 
relation  to  Assn.  work  in  World 
War  (1914-17).  311-12:  first  Stud. 
Gen.  Sees.,  337  ;  buildings.  333 ; 
Australasian  Stud,  and  City  Work, 
425-6 ;  Chinese  Stud.  Work  and 
chhs..  473-4  ;  Indian  begun,  352, 
362  :  Japanese  begun.  370. 

,   Assn.   Conferences.   N.   Eng.   334, 

344;  Mt.  Hermon  (1886).  350-55; 
Stud.  Volunteers.  362-5 ;  Northfield, 
see  Northfield ;  as  agency  of  super- 
vision, 353-4;  Pacific  coast  (1906), 
464. 

Christian      Movements,      Great 

Britain,  300,  373,  380 ;  France, 
Netherlands  and  Switz"d,  314  ;  Scan- 
dinavia, Germany,  U.  S.  and  Can- 
ada, Mission  Lauds,  S.  Africa,  India 
and  Ceylon.  Australasia,  China  and 
Japan,   380-1,   468-70. 

Federation,     see    World's     Stud. 

Christian  Fed'n. 

For.    Miss'y    Soc.    of    Princeton, 

362. 

Sees.  Conf.,  483. 

Volunteer  Convs.  in  North  Amer- 
ica, John  R.  Mott,  Robert  E.  Speer, 
302,  378-9;  in  Australasia  (1902), 
426. 

Volunteer  Movement,  first  men- 
tion, 50-1;  suggested  (18861,  165; 
begun  (1886),  362,  364-5;  organized 
(1888),  Ober,  Wilder,  Mott,  372-3, 
379.  381. 

Sturges,  Jonathan,  trustee  N.  Y.  Assn. 
(1869),  60. 

Sturgis.  Russell.  Jr..  pres.  Boston  Assn. 
(1874),  in  Int.  Comm.  work,  131, 
139  ;  Int.  Comm.  member,  141,  144  ; 
pres.  Int.  Conv.,  160 ;  in  Bible 
work,  217. 

Stuttgart,  Germany,  Assn.  Jubilee 
(1911),    184. 

Suez   Canal    (1902),   421. 

Summer  Schools,  see  Sec'l  Bureau  and 
Training. 

Sumner.  Chas.  B.,  42. 

,    John.    Int.    Comm.    Immigration 

Sec.  (1910-11),  397. 

Sunday  schools  in  N.  Y.  and  Boston 
(1815-16).  13,  14. 

Super,  Paul.  Int.  Comm.  Sec.  Sec'l 
Bureau   (1916),  262-3. 

Superintendents,  Gymnasium  (1870- 
85),   263-4. 

Supervision,  Assn.  (1)  without  author- 
ity :  valued,  285  ;  conferential,  353  ; 
defined,  443 ;  Grand  Rapids  Resolu- 
tions, 444,  450-54  ;  (2)  with  au- 
thority, 251-2;  (1)  and  (2)  com- 
pared. 253. 

Supervisory  Agencies,  see  Int.,  State, 
Provincial,    Metropolitan. 

Supreme  Court,   U.   S.  Division,  20. 

Swift,    J.    Trumbull,   a   Yale   graduate 


(1884),  Gen.  Sec.  Orange,  N.  J., 
Assn.  ;  first  For.  Sec.  Int.  Comm. 
(1887-8),  367;  in  Japan,  370;  se- 
cures fund  for  Tokyo  Assn.  bldg. 
(1889).  373-4. 

Swimming    campaigns    promoted,    268. 

Sydenham  Palace,  Regents  i'ark,  Lon- 
don   (1851),   22,   23. 

Syduey,  Australia   (1902),  427. 

System  R.  K.  Work,  see  R.  R.  Work. 


Tabernacle  Church,  Salem,  Mass.,  or- 
dination first  five  Amer.  for.  mis- 
sionaries, 9-10. 

Taft,  Wm.  II.,  Pres.,  cooperates  in 
Army  and  Navy  Work,  311  ;  offers 
White  House  in  promoting  For.  Assn. 
Work,  433. 

Taggart,  Samuel  A.,  first  Assn.  State 
Sec.  (Penn.,  1871),  a  strong  pioneer, 
76,  81,  124,  396;  State  Work  advo- 
cate at  Int.  Conv.  (1873),  118-19; 
at  World  Conf.   (1881),  219. 

Taj  Mahal,   India   (1902),  422. 

Talladega  Coll.,  founded  by  H.  E. 
Brown,  402. 

Talleyrand,  French  statesman,  9. 

Tangier   (1902).  421. 

Tasmania  (1902),  423. 

Taugwalder,  Peter,  Swiss  guide  (1872), 
99. 

Taylor,  John  P.,  41. 

,  Samuel  H.,  26. 

,    Wm.    M.,    at    Princeton    revival, 

158,  161. 

,  W.  P.,  Yale  undergraduate,  offers 

to  go  on  first  Stud.  Volunteer  tour 
(1886),  363. 

Temperance  revival  in  Maine  (1872), 
87. 

Terhune,  see  Harland. 

Test,  see  l^vangelical. 

Thacher,  Thomas,  46.  52. 

Thaw,  Wm.,  an  organizer  of  Penn.  R. 
R.  system  ;  substantial  supporter  Int. 
Work,  helps  secure  T.  K.  Cree  as 
Int.  Comm.  Sec,  154,  206  ;  also  the 
first  Int.  R.  R.  Sec,  391 ;  strong 
promoter  Assn.  R.  R.  Work,  399, 
458. 

Theological   studies,  50-52. 

Thomas.  Henry  W.,  Colored  Assn.  Sec. 
(1866),  Charleston,  S.  C.  400. 

Thompson.  Jos.  P.,  contributor  Assn. 
Monthly   (1870),  62. 

,   Wm.   H.,   Int.   Conv.   Bible  Topic 

(1873),  118. 

Thorburn,  Thos.,  pioneer  Assn.  Sec. 
among  miners,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  (1887- 
97),  396. 

Tibbetts,  Arthur,  second  Int.  Comm. 
Indian  Sec.  407,  409. 

Tichenor,  John  S.,  Int.  Comm.  chief, 
Army  and  Navy  Sec,  310  ;  S.  Afri- 
can N'at'l  Sec.  (1912-3),  428. 

Tientsin,  China   (1907),  476. 

Tokyo  Y.   M.   C.  A.,  384. 

Topic  Party,  see  Bible  Study. 

Toronto  Univ.  visited  by  Studd  (1886- 
7).  348. 

Toussaint  I'Ouverture,   33. 

Tower  Room  of  R.  R.  McBurney,  meet- 
ing Int.  Comm.  and  Sees,  begun 
(1882),   194-5:  described,  325-8. 

Towson,  Chas.  R.,  Int.  Comm.  chief 
Sec.   Industrial  Work,  397. 

Tract  Societies,  beginnings,  7,  10,  16 ; 
Amer.,    16 ;    Religious,    6. 

Tracy,  Roger  S.,  45. 


544 


INDEX 


Training   Centers,    see   Sec'l    Training. 

Triangle  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  266. 

Triennial  Convs.,  see  Int.  Convs. 

True   Reasons,   5. 

Tsao,  Chinese  Gen.  Sec,  Shanghai,  317. 

Tsinan-fu,       Tslngchau-fu,       Tslngtao, 

China    (1907),    466. 
Tungchou    Coll.    Y.    M.    C.    A.,    China 

(1886).  352. 
Twenty-fifth   Annlv.   of  R.   C.   M.,   298. 
Twichell,  Joseph,  36. 
Tyndall,      Professor,     ascent     of     Mt. 

Blanc   (1872),  1)9. 
Tyng,    Stephen    H.,    laying   cornerstone 

of   "old   23rd   St.   bldg."    (1888),   59. 


Uhl,  Krskine,  Gen.  Sec.  Poughlieepsie 
Assn.,  Sec.-Treas.  Gen.  Sees.  Assn. 
(1873),  Int.  Comm.  Office  Sec.  (1876- 
1906),  120,  139-40;  Sec.  Sec'l 
Bureau,  258 ;  an  editor  of  Assn. 
Handbook,  292-3. 

Union,     Chhs.     in     China     Centenary 
Conf.    (1907),  472-3: 
In  Meth.  Chhs.,  Japan,  471. 
North  and  South  in  U.  S.  Int.  Conv. 
(1875),    144. 

Union  Theological  Seminary,  N.  Y. 
(1865-6),  49. 

Unitarian  movement,   14  ;  Conv.,   51. 

U.  S.  Christian  Commission  and  Nat'l 
War  Work  Council  in  Civil  War 
(1861-5),  Wm.  B.  Dodge,  Jr..  and 
Geo.  II.  Stuart  (1862,  1870),  48, 
74;  Harrlsburg  Assn.  (1861-5),  130; 
in  Spanish  War  (1898),  310-11;  in 
other  wars,  311-12;  in  the  World 
War,  515-16.  521. 

Upsala  Univ.,  Sweden  (1888),  240-1. 

Utrecht  Univ.,  Holland,  16. 


Vadstena  Castle,  Sweden,  World  Stud. 
Christian  Fed'n  formed   (1895),  379. 

Van  Arsdale.  W.  W.,  Gen.  Sec,  Chicago, 
editor  Watchman,  488-90. 

Van  Cott,  J.  Marsden,  father-in-law 
R.  C.  M.,  196  ;  at  dinner  meeting  Int. 
Comm.,  197;  World's  Conf.  (1891), 
243  ;    in   the  family   homestead,   329. 

,    Jane   Elizabeth,   see   Mrs.   R.    C. 

Morse. 

Van  der  Beken,  Sec.  Paris  Assn. 
(1886),  234. 

Vanderbilt,  Commodore  and  Wm.  H., 
first  two  presidents  Vanderbilt  R.  R. 
System.  152,  391. 

,  Cornelius,  Jr.,  third  pres.  Van- 
derbilt System,  promoter  Moody 
Hippodrome  meetings  (1876),  158; 
director  N.  Y.  Assn.  and  chairman 
its  R.  R.  Comm.,  192,  and  Finance 
Comm.,  207  :  substantial  supporter 
Int.  Comm.  Work,  206 ;  delegate  to 
Jubilee  World's  Conf.  (1894),  245; 
chairman  Int.  Comm.'s  R.  R.  Work, 
289-90  ;  vigilant  20  years'  oversight 
of  R.  R.  Work,  donor  of  R.  R.  Assn. 
bldgs.,  N.  Y.  City,  390-3. 

,  Wm.  K.,  substantial  supporter  of 

R.  R.  Assn.  Work,  152,  206. 

Van  Dis,  John  A.,  Sec.  Boys'  Work, 
New  Haven  Assn.   (1916),  343. 

Van  Dyke,  C.  V.  A.,  missionary,  Syria, 
52. 

Van  Oosterwijck,  Bruijn,  pres.  Assn. 
Amsterdam,  Holland,  and  World's 
Conf.  (1872),  103-5;  delegate  to 
World's  Conf.   (1875),  146;  Holland 


member  World's  Comm.  (1878),  176. 

Vargas  de,  Louis,  Spanish  delegate  to 
World's  Conf.  (1898)  during  Spanish 
War,  313. 

V'assilieff,  Father,  Priest  of  Greek  Chh., 
delegate  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Int. 
Jubilee  Conf.    (1901),   478. 

Versailles,  France,  meeting  World  Stud. 
Christian  Fed'n  Comm.    (1900),  384. 

Victoria,  packet  ship  to  London  (1851), 
21. 

Vienna,  World  Comm.  Meeting  (1911), 
503. 

Virginia  Univ.   Assn.,  see   Stud.   Assn. 

Virgo,  John  J.,  Gen.  Sec.  Sydney,  Aus- 
tralia, becomes  (1908)  London  Assn. 
Sec,  427. 

Vital  bond  of  Assn.  fellowship,   104. 

Volunteer  agency,  see  Laymen. 

work  and  leadership,  before  Civil 

War  (1851-61),  70;  developed 
(1897),    261-2;    later    (1904),    448-9. 

Von  Bernstorff,  Andreas,  Count,  pres. 
Berlin  ChristHcher  Vercin  Juuger 
Manner  and  World's  Conf.  (1884), 
183,  218,  221  ;  at  World's  Comm. 
meeting,  Geneva,  Swltz'd  (1886), 
237-8. 

Von  Rothkirck,  Baron,  one  of  the 
founders  of  C.  V.  J.  M.,  Berlin 
(1883),  183  ;  succeeds  Count  von 
Bernstorff  as  pres.  at  Berlin,  481. 

Von  Schluembach,  Frederick,  pres.  of 
German-speaking  Assn., .  Baltimore, 
and  speaker  Int.  Conv.  (1874),  134  ; 
Gen.  Sec  Nat'l  Bund  German  Assns. 
(1874),  137  ;  reports  progress  Int. 
Conv.  (1875),  141-2;  Int.  Sec.  for 
German  Assn.  Work  (1878),  resigns 
(1881),  182;  his  greater  work  in 
Germany,  184 ;  his  successor,  185 ; 
delegate  to  World  Conf.   (1884).  221. 

Vreeland,  H.  Harold,  Jr.,  Yale  gradu- 
ate (1912),  Sec  Sheffield  Dept. 
Assn.,  342. 


Walldorf,  Baden,  Germany,  16. 

Wanamaker,  John,  Sec.  Phila.  Assn., 
185  ;  pres.  Phila.  Assn.  and  Int. 
Conv.  (1871),  80;  supports  a  (Jen. 
Sec.  for  Zurich,  Switz'd  Assn. 
(1886),  237. 

Wanless,  Dr.  W.  J.,  medical  mission- 
ary,  Miraj,   India   (1902).   422. 

Warburton,  Geo.  A.,  a  veteran  Gen. 
Sec,   122. 

Ward,  Charles  S.,  a  Dartmouth  gradu- 
ate. Gen.  Sec  New  Britain,  Conn., 
and  Grand  Rapids.  Mich.,  Int.  Comm. 
Field  Sec,  291  ;  finance  short  cam- 
paign and  building  fund  Sec,  429, 
516. 

Warner,  Lucien  C,  chairman  Harlem 
Br.  N.  Y.  Assn.,  leader  on  N.  Y. 
Comm.,  chairman  Int.  Comm.  (1895- 
1911),  298;  Australasian  tour  with 
R.  C.  M..  423  :  at  the  Montreal  and 
Boston  Jubilees  (1904),  439;  mem- 
ber of  Comm.  of  Twenty-one  (lOiU- 
4),  speaker  in  discussion  Jubilee 
Conv.  (1904),  446:  attended  27 
Confs.  with  State  Comms.  (1904-5), 
449-52 ;  pamphlet  on  Int.  Comm. 
Work  (1905),  453-5;  his  administra- 
tion reviewed,  297-98. 

Wars,  .see  U.  S.  Christian  Commission 
and  World-War. 

Washington,  George,  4,  27,  34. 

Watclvman,     Chicago     Assn.     bulletin, 


INDEX 


545 


recognized  as  periodical  of  Assn. 
movement  (1875-88).  489;  becomes 
Young  Men's  Era    (1889),  490. 

Watkins,  B.  W.,  Int.  Comm.  Sec,  122, 
185. 

Weatherford.  W.  D.,  Int.  Comm.  Stud. 
Sec.  at  South,  author  of  "Negro 
Life  at  the  South"  and  promoter  of 
better  race  relationships,   403-4. 

Webster,  Daniel,  7. 

,    Henry '  H.,    Princeton    graduate 

(1876),  a  Sec.  N.  Y.  Assn.  (1877- 
80),  director  N.  Y.  Assn.,  first  chair- 
man Boys'  Worli  Comm.  (1882),  410- 
11  ;  first  chairman  Int.  Comm.'s 
Stud.  Work,  192.  289,  357,  364,  411  ; 
at  Yale  and  llar%'ard,  411-12,  345. 

"We  can  do  it  if  we  will,"  words  on 
Haystack    Monument,    383. 

Weeks,  Robert  Kelley,  43. 

Wei  Hsien,  China   (1907),  466. 

Weidensall,  Robert,  senior  Sec.  Int. 
Comm.  (1868-1917).  290,  442;  meets 
R.  C.  M.  Int.  Conv.  (1870),  65; 
pioneer  in  field  secretaryship  Stud. 
Work  from  1870,  75-6,  93-6,  143, 
330 ;  Western  and  Southern  Work. 
112,  121.  123,  331;  at  Conv.  (1874), 
134  ;  with  D.  L.  Moody,  156 ;  af- 
fected by  overwork  (1888),  268;  re- 
signs salary  to  become  volunteer  Int. 
Sec,  291-2 ;  pioneer  County  Work, 
292,    414-15. 

Welch,  Pierce,  44. 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  23. 

Wemyss.  Lord  (1884).  223. 

Western  Sec.  Institute,  nee  Sec.  Train- 
ing. 

Westminster  Abbey,  London  (1894), 
244. 

Wetmore.  Benj.,  treasurer  Int.  Comm. 
(1870-92),  prepares  paper  World 
Conf.  (1875),  145;  teacher  in  Chris- 
tian Training  School,  188 ;  acting 
chairman  (1892),  287. 

Weyerhausser,  F.  E..  member  Int. 
Comm.    for   Industrial   Work,    399. 

Wheeler,  Robert  T.,  colored  Stud,  dele- 
gate Int.  Conv.   (1875),  401. 

White  House.  Pres.  Roosevelt  aids  in 
securing  bidg.  fund  for  San  Fran- 
cisco Assn.,  430 ;  Pres.  Taft  offers 
White  House  for  Conf.  in  aid  of  Int. 
Comm.   For.   Work,  433. 

White,  J.  Campbell,  Int.  Comm.  For. 
Sec    (1893),  379. 

.    Wilbert    W.,    Bible    Topic    Int. 

Conv.    (1893),    217. 

Whitehead,  C.  E..  director  N.  Y.  City 
Assn.    (1869),  60. 

W^hitford.  A.  H..  veteran  Gen.  Sec. 
Rochester  and  Buffalo.  121. 

Wieting,  P.  A.,  Int.  Comm.  Office  Sec. 
(1879),  253;  at  first  annual  meet- 
ing Int.  Comm.  Sees.  (1882).  195. 

Wiggin.  Fredk.  H.,  Yale  graduate 
(1904)  treas.  Yale  Assn.  Graduate 
Comm.    (1915),   340. 

Wilkie,  Thos.  J.,  veteran  Gen.  Sec. 
Toronto  (1873),  trainer  of  Sees., 
124-5,  495. 

Wilberforce.  Wm.,  5,  8. 

Wilcox,  C.  M..  Sec.  (Jonn.  State  Comm., 
86. 

Wilder,  Robert  P.,  Princeton  delegate 
Mt.  Hermon  Stud.  Conf.  (1886), 
founder  Stud.  Vol.  Movement,  362- 
4;  conducts  first  tour  (1886-7).  364- 
5 ;  helps  to  organize  Movement 
(1888),    372-3;     organizes     British 


Stud.  Volunteer  Miss'y  Union,  373  ; 
Int.  Comm.  Senior  Religious  Work 
Sec.    (1916),  273,  373,  300. 

Williams.  Chas.  T.,  pres.  Montreal 
Assn.  delegate  to  Int.  Conv.  (1899)  ; 
Convention  changes  its  mind,  437-8  ; 
averts  unfortunate  results,  497 ; 
chairman  Canadian  section  (1907), 
497. 

— —  College,  undergraduates  at  Mass. 
State  Convs.  (1869),  64;  and 
(1882),  C.  K.  Ober  as  delegate,  332; 
at  first  N.  England  Coll.  Assn.  Conf. 
(1883),  335;  1st  meeting  of  World's 
Stud.  Christian  Fed'n  (1897),  320- 
1  ;  Haystack  prayer-meeting  and 
Monument,   165,  320-1,   382  3. 

,   (ieo..   Sir,   founder  parent   Assn., 

London  (1844),  IS;  at  W'orld's 
Conf.  (1855),  105;  at  Conf.  (1872), 
Treas.  London  Assn.,  50  years  old. 
first  met  by  R.  C.  M.,  146;  at  Int. 
Conv.  (1876)  Bible  Class  Topic,  216  ; 
gives  to  Colored  Sec'l.  fund,  402 ; 
welcomed,  159-60 ;  at  World  Conf. 
(1881)  London  founds  English 
Natl  Council,  220 ;  at  Geneva, 
Switz'd  attends  World  Comm.  meet- 
ing (1886),  236-9;  London  Jubilee 
World  Conf.  (1894),  receives  knight- 
hood from  Queen  Victoria  and  Free- 
dom of  City  from  London  corpora- 
tion. 245 ;  his  farewell  to  Jubilee 
World  Conf.  (1905).  501-2.  Replica 
of  bust  of  Sir  George  presented  to 
Int.  Comm.  by  Howard  Williams, 
461  ;  Home  presented  to  English 
Nat'l    Council,    481. 

,    Helen    (1886),   239. 

,  Henry  F.,  State  Sec.  Minn.,  rep- 
resents Int.  Comm.  in  first  contact 
with  N.  Amer.  Indian  Assn.  Worls 
(1885),  405;  Int.  Comm.  R.  R.  Sec. 
(1887-9).  393;  editor  (1890-93), 
Young  Men's  Era,  490. 

.  Howard,  as  representative  of  his 

father.  Sir  George,  hon,  pres.  Jubi- 
lee Int.  Conv.  (1901),  439;  donor 
to  Int.  Comm.  of  marble  bust  of  Sir 
George  (1908).  461;  invites  R.  C. 
M.  to  his  last  meeting  with  Sir 
George    (1905),   502. 

,    Roger    H..    chairman    Int.    Stud. 

Work  Comm.,  296. 

W^illlamson,  J.  Rutter,  Cor.  Sec.  World's 
Stud.  Christian  Fed'n  Comm.  Vad- 
stena  (1895),  380;  Presbyterian 
medical  miss'y,  Miraj,  India  (1902), 
422. 

Willing,  Henry  J.,  leading  director 
Chicago   Assn.    (1878-82),   191. 

Willis.  Clarence  B.,  veteran  Gen.  Sec. 
Milwaukee,  122. 

Wilson,  Woodrow,  Pres.,  an  under- 
graduate  at   Princeton    (1S76),    161. 

Windsor  Castle,  England  (1894),  249- 
50. 

Winnipeg  Conv.,  Nat'l  Canadian 
(1912).  497-8;  a  constitution 
adopted,  498-9. 

Winthrop,   Buchanan,  42. 

Wishard,  Luther  D.,  undergraduate 
delegate  Int.  Conv.  (1872)  from 
Hanover  College,  Ind..  65,  95 ;  at 
Princeton  Coll.  (1875-77),  pres. 
Philadelphlan  Soc.  (1876),  becomes 
Stud.  Assn.  (1877),  329;  promotes 
intercollegiate  movement  as  Stud, 
delegate  Int.  Conv.  (1877).  161-4, 
345  ;  as  graduate  becomes  first  Int. 


546 


INDEX 


Coram.  Coll.  Sec.  (1877),  164-6,  329; 
co-educational  problem,  166-9  ;  C.  K. 
Ober  secured  as  his  associate  (1884), 
332 ;  Coll.  sub-Comm.  Webster  and 
Dodge,  289 ;  Stud.  Bible  Work, 
Northfleld  (1885).  346;  suggests 
Mt.  Hermon  and  Northfleld  Confs. 
(1886),  349-50:  relation  to  first  of 
these  Confs.,  Stud.  Vol.  Movement, 
Int.  Comm.  For.  Assn.  Work,  350, 
354-64;  world  journey  (1888-92), 
204,  369-79 ;  enlists  D.  L.  Moody's 
cooperation,  344-8,  350-1,  354-5 ;  J. 
R.  Mott,  356 ;  conference  supervision, 
354-5;  For.  Sec.  Int.  Comm.  (1892- 
97),  379;  treas.  World's  Stud.  Chris- 
tian Fed'n.  (1895),  380;  leads  a  for- 
ward movement,  Presbyterian  and 
Congregational  For.  Boards  (1897- 
99),   380. 

Witherspoon,  John,  6. 

Women  as  members  of  Y.  M.  C.  A., 
166-8. 

Women's   Auxiliary,   see   Int.   Comm. 

For.  Mission  Board,  Presbyterian, 

198,   464. 

Miss'y  Luncheon,  Centenary  Conf., 

Shanghai   (1907),  473. 
Woods,  Leonard,  29. 
Woodstock,  Conn.,  1,  2,  24. 
Woodward,  S.  W.,  Int.  Comm.  member, 

substantial     supporter,     delegate     to 

Fed'n  Conf.,  Tokyo    (1907),  470;  at 

Shanghai   Centenary  Conf.,  474. 
Woolsey,  Theodore  Dwight,  pres.   Yale 

Coll.,  39,  46,  52. 
World     Exhibitions,     London      (1851), 

22;    Paris    (1867),   54;   Philadelphia 

(1876),  159. 

Journeys : 

L.  D.  Wishard  (1888-92),  extending 
Assn.  Work  to  non-Christian  lands, 
369-71. 

John  R.  Mott  (1895-97,  twenty 
months),  promoting  World  Stud. 
Christian  Fed'n  and  For.  Assn. 
Work,  379-81. 

R.  C.  Morse,  first  tour  Dec,  1902- 
June,  1903,  eastward,  Tangier  and 
Gibraltar,  100  days  in  India, 
Australia,  and  New  Zealand,  421- 
8 ;  second  tour,  Dec,  1906-July, 
1907,  westward,  Japan,  Korea, 
Manila,  Hong  Kong,  Shanghai, 
Shantung,  Hankow,  Peking,  Port 
Arthur,  Mukden,  Siberian  R.  R., 
Moscow,  St.  I'etersburg,  Berlin, 
London,  entering  into  the  labors  of 
junior  predecessors.  464-82. 

Robert  Weidensall  (1905-6),  touch- 
ing more  countries  than  his  three 
predecessors  in  any  one  of  their 
journeys  and  heartening  all  hia 
fellow   workers,   292. 

Missionary     Conf.      (decennial), 

Edinburgh    (1910),   503,   507,   520. 

— ■ —  Outreach  of  N.  Amer.  Assn.  Work, 
301-2,  362-89. 

War    (1914-?),    Nat'l    War   Work 

Council  organized,  and  entire  Assn. 
movement   mobilized,   311-2,   388-9. 

World's  Committee,  elected  (1878), 
174-77;  first  report  (1881),  219; 
Gen.  Sec.  (1878-1917),  176-7,  248, 
313,  503 ;  temporary  Sec.  Wishard 
(1888-92),  369-71;  biennial  meetings 
(1886),  233-9;  (1907),  475,  481; 
(1911),    503-4. 

Conferences  : 

Paris    (1855),   Amer.    delegate,    Geo. 


H.   Stuart,  74  ;   W.   E.   Shipton  as 

World    Conf.    leader,     102 ;    other 

early  leaders,   105. 
Amsterdam      (1872),     beginning     of 

regular    attendance    by    McBurney 

and  R.  C.  M.,  101-5. 
Hamburg    (1875),    pamphlet    reports 

Amer.     Assns.     in     languages     of 

Conf.,   145-7. 
Geneva     (1878),    forty    Amer.    dele- 
gates,  World   Comm.  elected  with 

Gen.   Sec,   172-77. 
London   (1881),  resulting  in  English 

Nat'l  Council,  218-20. 
Berlin    (1884),   welcomed   by   Christ- 

lichcr  Verein  Junyer  Manner,  221- 

Stockholm  (1888),  Amer.  Coll.  Sec. 
L.  D.  Wishard  becomes  temporary 
Sec  World  Comm.,  241,  370  ;  R. 
C.  M.  Amer.  Sec.  World's  Comm., 
242 ;  Karl  Fries  becomes  Assn. 
Gen.    Sec,    242. 

Amsterdam  (1891),  permanent  rules 
of  Conf.  adopted,  243. 

London  Jubilee,  (1894),  244-50; 
McBurney's  last  important  service, 
247  ;  Mott  receives  his  first  wel- 
come, 249,  301  ;  see  also  Sir  George 
Williams. 

Basle  (1898),  312-14;  as  Amer.  dele- 
gates McBurney  and  Cree  suc- 
ceeded by  Mott,  Marling,  and 
Hicks,  314  ;  World's  Comm.'s  staff 
increased  by  Gen.  Sec.  Christian 
Phildius,  313,  438 ;  relations  of 
World  Assn.  and  World  Stud. 
Confs.,    314,    384. 

Christiania  (1902),  and  sessions  of 
European  Gen.   Sees.,   500. 

Paris,  Jubilee  Conf.  (1905),  501-8; 
Basis  of  1855  reaffirmed,  501-2 ; 
Geo.  Williams'  farewell,  502. 

Barmen-Elberfeld  (1909),  a  third 
Gen  Sec.  added  to  World's  Comm.'s 
stafif,   481,   503. 

Edinburgh  (1913),  Int.  Sees.  Shipp, 
Goodman,  and  Fisher  carry  the  N. 
Amer.  message  ;  Charles  Fermaud 
and  R.  C.  M.  chosen  honorary 
Sees,   for   life,   504-5. 

Stud.    Christian    Fed'n    and    its 

Comm.,  organized  (1895),  242, 
300-2,  304  ;  its  rapid  extension, 
379-81  ;  its  first  conference,  382- 
4.  320-1  ;  10  years'  membership  in 
Fed'n  Comm.  (1897-'07)  ;  at  Eise- 
nach (1898),  314;  at  Soro  (1902), 
Zeist  (1905),  384;  at  Nikko  and 
Tokyo  (1907),  469-70;  World 
War.  515  ;  in  relation  to  World's 
Conf.,  314,  384-9,  504. 
World  Powers — defined  and  six  named, 

388-0 
Wright,  Henry  B.,  Yale  graduate,  1898, 

pres.  Yale  Assn.   (1897-8),  320;  Gen. 

Sec   (1898-01),  340-2;  in  City  Assn. 

Work,    342 ;    Northfield    Confs.,    359- 

60 :   on   Int.   Comm.   Religious  Work 

staff,  273. 

Yale    College    and    Univ.,    2,    5,    31-46. 

For  Yale  Assn.,  sec  Stud.   Assns. 
Yali   in   Changsha,   China    (1907),   475. 
Yamaguchi,  Japan   (1907).  467-8. 
Yaugtse  River  (1!»07),  475. 
Year   Book    (1873),    123:    (1874),   137- 

8:    (1875).   145:    (1886),  405. 
Yellow  Sea,  five  crossings  (1907),  465- 

71. 


INDEX 


647 


Yokohama,  Japan   (1907).  465.  468. 

Yoiins  Men's  Christian  Assn..  a  lay- 
men's creation,  ace  Laymen  ;  Home 
and  For.  Work,  see  Int.  Work  ;  par- 
ent Assns.,  see  Loudon,  Hoston. 
Montreal  Assns.  ;  buildings,  see 
Buildings;  gymnasium,  see  Fourfold 
Work  ;  in  architecture.  62-3  ;  among 
students,  see  Stud.  Assns.  ;  College, 
see  Sec'l  Training ;  approved  by 
presidents  of  U.  S.,  80 ;  "As  it  is" 
in  1872-80,  91-2,  111:  young  men 
united,  203  ;  N.  Y.  C.  Chicago,  Lon- 
don, Paris,  Berlin,  St.  Petersburg, 
San  Francisco,  Bergen,  Buffalo. 
Zurich,  see  N.  Y.  City.  Chicago,  etc. 

Younp  Men's  Era  and  Era  Co.,  490. 

Young  Women's  Christian  Association, 


parent    Assn.    Boston    (1866),    227 
in     co-educational      colleges,      166-9 
352 ;     its    agencies     of    supervision 
453 ;    in    tenure    of    property,    457 
partner    in    Stud.    Volunteer    Move 
ment,   372 ;   and   World    Stud.   Chris 
tian  Fed'n.  384  ;  at  Silver  Bay,  484 
union  of  the  two  Y.  W.  C.  A.  groups 
attempted,     1(!8,     protracted     effort 
231,  accomplished,  456-60,  453  ;  Sec'l 
Training  School.  457. 
Young  People's  Missionary  Movement, 
484. 


Zealand,  New   (1902),  423. 

Zeist,   Holland,  384. 

Zurich,  Switz'd  Assn.  Sec,  237-8. 


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